


Gifted

by HinatasShadow



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Soulmates, Violence, gifted individuals, multi-chapter, superhuman abilities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-07 14:26:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 60,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4266609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HinatasShadow/pseuds/HinatasShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A small portion of the population are Gifted and able to do things that are superhuman. No one knows how a person becomes a Gifted or even where they come from, only that there are organizations in the world that compete to control them to control the world. Cloud has never had interest in becoming involved with the politics of his world, but when he is sent on a delivery that throws him into the middle of all that he avoided he must take a stance.</p><p>Sephiroth has been a Gifted for as long as he can remember and has watched as his close friends have found their soul mates while he has remained alone. When he finds a non-Gifted that sparks his interest will it be from mere curiosity, a sign that he is loosing his grasp on reality waiting for his soul mate, or is there more to the small blond than meets the eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Delivery

Chapter 1

The blaring of the nearby alarm clock did nothing to encourage Cloud to finally release his grasp on the sleep that he had finally obtained mere hours ago after a long struggle. Without opening his eyes he sluggishly raises his arm and guides it towards the approximate location of the annoying sound. He fumbles around for a moment before finally catching the ringing item with the back of his hand and knocking it off of its perch and on to the wood floor.

The ringing seems to become louder as if the clock is protesting its harsh treatment that morning and it begins to vibrate across the floor with each sound it makes.

With a pathetic whine in the back of his throat, Cloud finally cracks open his eyes and wiggles towards the annoying ringing. He glares at the loud device for a moment before reaching out to hit the snooze button, knowing that he will not be able to return to the realm of dreams anytime soon, but still willing to wish and hope that he could.

Reluctantly he picks up the clock and wiggles around more to free his other arm that he had been lying on top of. Once freeing it and wiggling it to get blood flowing to the tingling limb, he turns off the clock before it can disturb him again before returning it to its original home on the box next to his bed. 

He gives the clock another half-hearted glare before submitting himself to the reality of getting ready for work that day. He kicks off the blankets and slowly eases himself into an upright position. He slowly slips on his slippers before making the trek across the room to begin his morning bathroom ritual. 

Slowly rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he starts running the water to heat it up for a shower he turns his attention to his PHS as he beings to dig through his cabinet for his daily medication. After taking a moment to relieve himself, he sets about fumbling about for his toothbrush. Soon he finds himself brushing his teeth, knowing that any attempt to make breakfast at this point would be a futile and probably disastrous effort. He takes a moment to scan through the breaking news of the day before he pauses, his toothbrush halting its movement.

He sees what the time is.

Cloud had not bothered to look at the time, assuming that he had been rudely woken up by his alarm clock just after it had started its daily protests.

He had not bothered to even take a glance.

In that moment he has five minutes to take the twenty-minute trip to his work, grab an assignment and be halfway to his first destination of the day.

He ran.

Forgetting the hot water now streaming up his bathroom from the running shower, Cloud hurries to rinse out his mouth and throw on some work appropriate clothes before rushing out his door, slamming it back on its hinges as he scrambles to lock it.

He practically flies down the stairs of his apartment building, not bothering to wait for the elevator and choosing to run down the five flights of stairs instead. He hardly pauses his actions, nearly running into the door in the process.

Once outside he runs frantically over to the small banged-up motorcycle he has been using as his main source of transportation to, from, and during work. Finding it thankfully still in one piece and still there, he makes quick work of starting the engine and climbing on before defying the speed limits and flying down the road as fast as he can to the main base of his courier job.

Ten minutes later he hardly has the engine turned off and the bike secured before he is running through the warehouse hoping that he is not the last one to clock in so that maybe there are a few good jobs left and not just the bottom of the barrel jobs that are often not worth the pay he would receive for his time and efforts.

Luck however, is not on his side this time.

There is only one task left on the board for the day. It sounds simple and harmless enough, a group of deliveries to a school that needed to be divided and given to the correct office, half to the school’s administrative office, and half to the dorm office. But like the rest of his day, there is a catch. These packages are to be delivered to one of the schools reside in the high-income districts. Such schools have been put in place to find and begin training GIFTED.

These GIFTED schools are made for and frequently used solely by the elite and wealthiest of the populace, most of those elite being Alphas. Meaning that the people who went to and were able to go to places like that have no time or patience for people like him who are lower on the food chain of life.

A part of him wants to just ignore the order and either demand another job or ask for the day off.

A larger part of him knows that if he wants to keep his job and actually have money to spend on important things like food and gas for his motorcycle later on, he needs to push back his personal biases and take the job.

With reluctance he signs his name for the job on the computerized instruction board and pulls up the details of his job, forwarding the information to his PHS.

The job was really simple and straightforward and for once luck was on his side, according to the order nothing could be accepted from the delivery until about two hours from the current time, when the initiation process for the current group of hopefuls would be starting. And once there, he would have an hour to make all of his deliveries before he needed to be off the campus. 

A simple order with ample time to be carried out.

Cloud decides that since he suddenly has an abundance of time he will pack up his bike and make a stop to see his friend Zack before he heads for the other side of town.

With a quick message to his friend to meet him at their favorite breakfast spot, Cloud packs up the small load of boxes and takes his time following the required speed limits as he heads towards a greatly welcomed moment of peace filled with good food and friends.

Within a few minutes he managed to squeeze his bike into the parking that was provided by the alley next to the somewhat rundown bar. After making sure that his bike and packages are secure, he heads into the establishment, slipping into a faded booth two in from the door.

The menu is in his hands before he even settles into the seat, his eyes scanning through all of the offered items, but his stomach already knowing what it wants.

The soft sound of the bell tinkling over the front door puts Cloud at ease as he begins to set down his menu only to see an identical menu facing away from him hiding all but black spiky hair of the newcomer in the seat across from him.

“You know, I don’t know why you bother to look at the menu. You already know what you’re gonna’ get. Don’t you Spike?” The menu flops forward reveling the grinning face of Zack.

Cloud cannot help it and gives a small grin in return. “Who knows, maybe one day they will have something new that is just as good. So I have to check each time just to be sure.”

Zack lets out a barking laugh as he stands and makes his way over to the counter, both of the menus in his hand.

Cloud watches his friend as he tries to flag down a server to take their order. Something seems a bit off about his friend. Zack seems tenser than normal, more stressed, and more on edge than Cloud had seen him in a long time. His dark purple eyes seem more guarded and troubled than Cloud ever remembered seeing then. They had known each other for years, and very rarely did Cloud feel like there was something off with his friend, and usually when he did, something was very wrong with Zack.

He could see Zack trying to flirt with the female server behind the counter who looked like she must have been up all night with the drunks and was not amused by Zack’s antics this morning. In a brief moment, Cloud wrinkled his nose as he smells Zack release a small amount of his Alpha sent, probably trying to sway the server. Seeing the server look even more unamused sends a small smile to Cloud’s face.

He quickly hides the smile as Zack heads back to the table, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry about that Spike. I didn’t even realize that I did that until it was too late. Maybe ‘Geal’s right and I need to take more time trying to practice keeping my scent in check instead of just thinking I can already.” He ceases his rubbing for a moment and looks like he has had an epiphany. “Or maybe this is what I get for working with all of those kids, I must be picking up on their bad habits.”

Cloud snorts. “Yeah right. Blame your mystery job and your mysterious mentor all you want Zack, I know the truth.”

Zack narrows his eyes and leans forward. “And exactly what truth would that be?”

Cloud leans forward in kind, their faces inches apart. “That you aren’t really an adult. You’re really just a very large puppy in disguise.”

Zack’s mouth twitches trying to hold back a smile while his eyes stare back at Cloud, all emotion hidden. Cloud returns the gaze in kind.

“Ok guys, you either need to break it up, or this food is going to someone who actually cares to pay attention to the staff around here.”

Zack breaks the staring contest and flashes the irritated server a winning smile. “Sorry, old habits die hard with good friends, right?” The raven-haired server looks ready to throw him out of the place. The server is unamused. “How much do I owe you today?”

The sever rolls her eyes. “It will be 16 gill for the two stacks of pancakes and bacon. As always.”

Zack digs in his pockets for a moment before pulling out an over stuffed wallet. After a moment of digging he pulls out a wrinkled 20 Gil note. “Keep the change as a tip. Or as payment for putting up with me. Which ever excuse you want.”

The server snatches the bill out of his hand before turning away. “Just leave your dishes here when you’re done.”

“We always do Tifa!” Zack laughs a bit as he turns back to Cloud who is digging out his own wallet and is carefully counting notes. “Put that away Cloud, breakfast is on me this time.”

“Zack, let me pay you back. It’s not like one meal is going to make me completely broke.” He makes the mistake of looking Zack directly in the puppy eyes.

It only takes a moment before he has to look away, a feeling of guilt festering in him. “Fine” he mumbles, “I’ll let you get it this time, but that means I’ll pay for us both next time.”

Zack merely laughs before taking an oversized bite of his steaming pancake.

Cloud picks up a piece of bacon and begins to chew his way down the crispy strip.

The last of the strip is hardly in his mouth before the alarm on his PHS is going off, a reminder that he needs to be leaving to make it to the school for GIFTED immediately to make it in the assigned time window.

He lets out a groan and begins to stand up before Zack raises a hand to stop him. Zack reaches over, and begins piling Cloud’s remaining bacon in the middle of one of the untouched pancakes before folding it over like a taco and passing it to Cloud.

“For the road my hardworking friend.” He gives a slight bow as Cloud takes the stuffed pancake.

Cloud merely nods as he grabs the stuffed pancake and makes his way outside and back to his bike. He chokes down the mass as quickly as he can so that he can have both hands to drive.

Once his hands are free and some of the grease rubbed off, he starts the motor and he is off through the now slower midday traffic to the richer part of town that holds his destination.

With less traffic to contend with, it takes Cloud very little time to reach the gates of the institution he has deliveries for. There is a grand gilt gate blocking the entrance and Cloud pulls up to the guardhouse to present his orders and get directions to the correct buildings on the campus beyond.

When Cloud knocks on the glass of the guardhouse, the man inside does not even glance his way. It is only after two more loud attempts that the guard begrudgingly opens the window to speak to Cloud.

“Orientation started ten minutes ago, and seeing as someone of your standing could not possibly afford to attend such a prestigious institution such as this, I suggest that you leave at once before I call the authorities.” By the end of the short speech, the guard was practically sneering down his nose at Cloud.

Used to this type of response and behavior on assignments like this, Cloud simply pulls out his company’s delivery tablet for the guard to read through and sign. The guard sneers at him a moment longer before ripping the device out the smaller man’s hands. 

After a moment, the guard scribbles a signature and thrusts the device back to Cloud. “The administrative building is straight head and the dorms are on the far east side of campus. You have two hours to make your deliveries and be off this campus. If I don’t see you come through here again I will call the authorities on you. Is that clear?”

Cloud gives a small nod. “Yes sir. I’ll be gone before then.”

The guard grunts before turning around to push the button that opens the school’s gates and slamming the window to the guardhouse shut.

Cloud is through the gates in a moment and in just a couple of minutes had managed to find a spot to park his motorcycle while he takes the packages inside.

Once inside he nearly scoffs at how clean and expensive looking the entire place is. White walls, sharp edges, and marble floors fill the open space making every step he takes in his combat boots echo back ten fold. Thankfully there as signs posted everywhere in the building and it takes little time to find the correct office for his packages.

When he enters the office he can hear the harsh undertones of the red haired woman behind the desk who seems to be arguing with someone over phone. After a moment she acknowledges his presence with a nod of her head and a look of apology.

Cloud nods back and moves to stand away from the door and wait for the call to end.

The call drags on and on.

Eventually the woman screams at the person on the other end to shut up and stop complaining to someone who cannot change anything before slamming the phone back on its receiver.

The woman takes a moment to regain her composure before turning back to Cloud. “Sorry about that, how can I help you?”

Cloud hands her the tablet and waits for her to read and sign the screen.

It only takes a moment, and soon the tablet is exchanged for the packages.

As Cloud is heading out the door he hears the woman speak up. “You might want to hurry, it will take a while to reach the dorms and get back to the gate, but you only have half and hour. Be quick and stay away from any stray groups who have broken away from their assigned tour groups. Too many pumped up alphas in one place is not for the rest of us.

Cloud turns back to give her a small nod before hurrying back out to his bike.

Once he is on his way to the dorms, it quickly becomes apparent that there are many small groups of alphas that have broken away from their assigned groups and are freely wandering the campus.

Once he reaches the dorms he rushes inside to the desk to get the packages handed off. The attendant there looks stressed and frazzled but is quick to make the exchange so that they can resume their last task, leaving Cloud to make his way back to the gate with only a few minutes remaining.

When Cloud steps outside he finds a small group of five alphas surrounding his motorcycle and messing with it. He growls in the back of his throat and straightens himself, trying to seem more intimidating.

He is nearly to his bike before he barks. “Step away from my bike.”

The alphas turn to face him, the surprise on their faces quickly giving way to something more feral and sinister. “What are you doing here? It’s obvious that you don’t belong with the likes of us.” Feral grins begin to emerge one by one, and a sense of dread begins to grow in Cloud.

“I was here to do a job, and now my job is done. Move so that I can leave.” Cloud tries to keep his voice level and nonthreatening, hoping that the alphas will let him leave and a confrontation can be avoided.

One of the alphas gives a barking laugh. “Are you really ordering us around? Don’t you know who we are you piece of shit?” The alpha strides forward and grabs the front of Cloud’s shirt. “We are alphas, and you are the dirt beneath our feet. We’re the only ones giving orders around here, and we don’t take any from the likes of you.”

The alpha releases Cloud’s shirt, only to reach up and grab his blond spikes and begins to tug, dragging Cloud to a space between the dorm and the neighboring building.

Cloud tries to struggle out of his grasp, the pain in his scalp being overridden by the fact that if it came to a fight Cloud would not stand a chance against five alphas despite the training Zack had been trying to drill into him lately.

Once all of the other alphas have joined him between the buildings he throws Cloud to the ground and lands a swift kick to his jaw.

Cloud feels himself bite his tongue and blood floods his mouth while pain blooms in his jaw. He tries to stand and regain his footing and equilibrium but his arms are grabbed and held behind him by two of the other alphas.

Cloud struggles to break free, but they only apply more pressure and their scents flood his nose, his instincts begging him to submit so that they might leave him alone and no longer see him as a threat.

A different alpha steps forward and grabs Cloud by the jaw. “Still don’t get it do you, you piece of shit. We are your betters. You should be giving us anything we want. You don’t make demands, you only serve.” He kicks Cloud in the stomach, the air leaving his lungs in a rush. “Submit.”

Cloud could tell that this one was trying to use an Alpha Voice, one that would make him submit in an instant, but they did not have that Voice to use against him.

“Submit.”

Another blow to the head, this one near his temple with enough force to make his vision go spotty and his eye begin to swell.

“Submit.”

His legs are kicked out from under him, he is now lying on his stomach on the cement.

One of the alphas jumps on top of him and pins him down. The alpha leans down and takes a moment to scent Cloud.

“There is obviously something wrong with you when you don’t know to submit to your betters. But your scent smells like you’re sick. If you’re sick and still won’t submit then there is no use for the likes of a broken beta like you.”

A kick to the face, blood is streaming out of his nose. Cloud is finding it hard to breathe.

“Submit.”

His hair is grabbed and his head is slammed into the pavement.

“Submit.”

His vision is getting spotty again.

“SUBMIT!”

He thinks he can just make out shadowy figures making their way towards the group. But he figures that they must be part of his imagination.

“SUBMIT!”

Cloud’s head does not meet the pavement.

He squints and manages to look up and see what is surely a figment of his imagination.

A tall Alpha with long silver hair is holding his attackers at bay with a single look. The calm Alpha takes in the group for a moment, all of the attackers are suddenly nervous and edgy.

The strange Alpha gives a brief look at Cloud before turning back to the group. In a voice so quiet Cloud is not initially sure he heard it, “Submit.”

With that one command, Cloud feels like he has been freed from himself and he lets the peaceful blackness sweep over him.


	2. Orientation

Chapter 2

The sun has hardly made its presence known in the sky before the unwanted chaos of the thoughts of a familiar person forces Sephiroth to begrudgingly give up on the idea of getting more sleep and waking later, at a sane hour. The unwanted intrusion of his sleep begins like an irritating buzzing in the back of his mind, the remaining images of his dreams becoming scattered and senseless as the buzzing begins to take the shape of thoughts and pictures with no apparent rhyme or reason.

Knowing that the inevitable would not wait to be let into the apartment and would probably make a beeline for the fridge rather than announcing his presence, Sephiroth resigns himself to his unwanted fate. With automatic movements he pulls back the covers and makes his way to his bathroom to begin his morning routine.

After taking a moment to relive himself, he steps into the shower and turns the heat and pressure on as high as possible as he tries to grasp the final lingering images from his latest dream. This dream had been like so many he had encountered lately. While none of these dreams were ever repeated and did not make any sense, the fact that they had the same repeating elements is what keeps him searching for the source of them.

A flashing image of light golden hair, soft baby blue eyes, a slim mouth threatening to break into a smile.

Images that together make a complete picture of a person that escape his attempts to connect them together, to see whose face is haunting his dreams. A simple yet frustrating puzzle with no clear connections to make the whole picture visible and understandable.

A small frustrated growl sounds from the back of his throat as the remaining image pieces slip completely away once more.

Sephiroth resigns himself to knowing that the fragmented images will return eventually and the mystery will continue. But there is another, louder, more pressing matter that is demanding his attention elsewhere in his apartment.

He takes his time finishing his routine before throwing on a comfortable pair of loose pants and a simple t-shit before heading out to face the oncoming emotional storm that has already been growing stronger by the minute.

When he finally wanders into his kitchen to start a pot of coffee, he finds the door to his refrigerator already open, the light outlining the shadow of a crouching figure who seems unconcerned by the presence behind them as they continue their digging.

“I hope you are planning of putting everything you don’t manage to eat back in its original place.”

“Of course not.” The voice is muffled by something only partially chewed. “You know me better than that anyways.”

A mental sigh is heaved as more images of food, distress, and incomplete snippets of images of people invade his mind once more. “Why do you insist on giving me a headache? Just because I can read your mind does mean that I know or understand what it is you want other than to consume every scrap of food in my home.”

A head full of raven spikes pops out from the fridge, a partially eaten cheese stick sticking out of his mouth. “I will never understand how that works. You can read peoples minds, that part I get, but the you not being able to understand it will never fail to amuse me.”

“Zack, everything amuses you.” The younger Alpha winks in response.

The coffee pot beeps as the final drops of the dark liquid fill the pot.

The black spikes shake back and forth when no comments are added. “Not so my good friend. There are many things that don’t amuse me. I just choose to ignore those things.”

A faster barrage of images meets Sephiroth.

Finally more of the pieces begin to fit together about why the younger man has come to eat him out of house and home so early in the day this time.

“This is about that delivery boy you seem determined to force your presence on, isn’t it.” Sephiroth shakes his head knowing that this is a losing argument he has been drug into yet again. “You know that contacting and interacting with that person is just putting the two of you in danger, yet you seem determined to overlook that fact.”

Zack slams the door to the fridge shut. “I KNOW!” he takes a deep breath and whispers, “I know.” He looks away from his friend.

The images increase their frequency and even more fragments of Zack’s mystery friend come forward, as well as images of himself, Angeal, and Genesis. It takes but a moment for the main idea of his friend’s thoughts to make sense.

“No. You can’t tell him.”

“But Seph –“

“No. You have no right to expose the rest of us like that. Not only would it put a normal human in danger because of that knowledge, it puts the rest of us in danger as well because he would have that knowledge.” This argument was not the normal one for which Sephiroth was grateful, but it was taking a turn that did not bode well for anyone.

“He’s not dangerous and he wouldn’t do anything to put us at risk! No one will find out about this, it will be ok.” Zack sounds more like he is trying to convince himself of this than anyone else. “He’s kind and quiet. He tries to avoid everything we deal with everyday because of who, what we are.”

“Which makes him even more of a target. I’m sure that they are already aware of your escapades into the city and have been keeping tabs on you and the people you interact with. He’ll have already been exposed. Would you want to put him through what we have been through, or worse, have them think that you know something that they don’t? Do you really want him to disappear just for them to see if he has the potential? That you might be hiding or training a perspective Gifted behind their backs? Do you really see any of that ending well for anyone you have involved?” 

Sephiroth is getting a headache from this. Between the banter and the waves of images and emotions, it is easy for him to be swept along, whether or not he wants to. Especially when Zack is letting his Gift leak into the conversation. He can feel the waves of stress and anxiousness rolling off the younger Alpha.

The chime of Zack’s PHS cuts Sephiroth’s next words off.

Zack answers with his normal cheery voice, and if Sephiroth were not standing in the room with the other male he would have easily assumed that all is well and that the raven did not have a care in the world.

The conversation is short and lighthearted, ending with a promise of breakfast with someone named ‘Spike.’

When Zack hangs up, he gives a sheepish smile, an attempt at ending the argument peacefully. “I have to leave if I want to make it to breakfast. I’ll see you later.” He heads towards the door, his emotions and thoughts even more turbulent.

“Don’t forget we have to be at the orientation at that new Gifted school in a few hours. With Angeal and Genesis taking the year off from that job, it falls to us. And it wouldn’t do for the famous Zack Fair to be running late for a room full of hopeful admirers.” 

Zack flashes a smile back to the older Alpha, light dancing in his electric violet eyes. “You don’t have to worry about me. Worry more about getting yourself there without causing a scene this time. I don’t want to have to save your ass from a room full of admiring school secretaries again.”

Sephiroth tries to hide the smile that is threating to break through. “That was one time. Besides, weren’t you the one who told me to go there in the first place while you attempted to woo that blond omega under the stage?”

A nervous flush graces Zack. “That was one time Seph! One time!”

As he tries to leave again, he stops with his hand on the door handle, his demeanor suddenly serious again. “I appreciate your concern, but this is something I need to do. He needs to know. He needs to be the one to decide if he wants to risk the potential danger or if he wants to cut all ties and try to live his life in peace. Either way I’ll respect his decision.”

He leaves, letting silence fill the room and Sephiroth’s mind.

Sephiroth watches the door, his headache only slightly easing as the source of its persistence makes his way away from the apartment.

When the headache has eased up enough for Sephiroth to concentrate on whether or not to try and get a few more hours of sleep, he turns back to his coffeepot for a moment, contemplating which mug to use before giving up and just drinking it straight out of the container.

The day ahead is looking worse as each moment passes.

…………………………………..

A few hours later Sephiroth has made it to the campus where he and Zack will be monitoring and mentoring the students to see if there are any potential Gifted among them. Schools like this disgust him to no end. Usually they only let those with money and affluence enroll, limiting the pool of potential candidates and ensuring that only the elite of society ever had a chance of success and fame.

This limiting also meant that the majority of students were alphas, mere children who could not control their own strength, and usually had a childhood that ensured that they have grow up to become self-centered and egotistical individuals. In this mix there are usually a few Alphas who demand the attention and respect of others, often through fear and threats, making the whole process even more painful to observe and let happen.

Occasionally a family would send a beta family member to these schools, despite the rumors that few betas could ever become a Gifted.

These schools are a farce. The only people who really know how a person could become a Gifted are those who have gone through the process, and the organizations that fight to control them.

It is a rule carved into the very soul and mind of every Gifted: You want no one to share your fate, to go through that experience. It is impossible for you to tell any normal person how you became a Gifted, and what that status really means. These experiences and knowledge can only be shared with other Gifted.

For anyone to want this fate is inconceivable to those who have had it forced upon them.

For someone like Sephiroth who has lived his entire life in that nightmare, there is nothing that can shake his belief in this knowledge.

Sephiroth looks around the auditorium where he and Zack will spend the next hour or more having to stand and ‘encourage’ those who seek glory and power through this school. He can feel the pulses of the minds of the new students and facility pushing against his own mind, grateful for them being unfamiliar so that they are easier to block out.

He checks the clock at the back of the auditorium and winces. They will be letting the students in soon for the orientation ceremony and Zack is still not back from his meeting with the mysterious normal human who has managed to capture and hold his erratic attention.

To Sephiroth, this can only mean that the conversation ended very badly, or that it never occurred and Zack is wandering around somewhere in turmoil.

It would not be the first time that the latter has been the correct answer.

Just as these thoughts flow through his mind, a familiar presence begins to make itself known. The levels of turmoil and uncertainty lower than they were this morning, but still high enough to be a cause for concern.

Zack enters the auditorium from a door near the stage, a wet rag in hand as he tries to vigorously scrub off the make up he uses whenever he wants to go out and engage with normal humans while trying to hide his scars that help discern who and what he really is. Seeing Sephiroth, he jogs over, throwing the rag into an open space behind the podium on his way.

Seeing Sephiroth’s blank expression he looks away sheepishly, a hand running through his hair adding even more volume to the black spikes. “I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t.” He releases a heavy sigh. “I can’t do that to him. He’s gone through enough and I can’t add my own problems onto him.” He looks up, catching Sephiroth’s still catlike gaze. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop visiting him, I’ll just be more careful about it. I know that you won’t approve, and neither will Angeal and Genesis when they found out, but I need this. I need someone who isn’t involved in all of this to help keep me sane and connected to the real world.”

Sephiroth releases his own sigh, knowing that this is not a battle he wants to fight right now. “Do what you may, but just remember that if anything happens, it is on your head and not ours.”

Zack flashes a smile, knowing that this is the closest thing to approval he will receive from the other Alpha.

The doors to the auditorium open and the new students surge in, eyes and instincts automatically drawn to the two armor clad Alphas standing next to each other. The students rush to find seats as close to the two of them as possible. No one dares to approach the two intimidating figures, but all eyes rest on them, the energy in the room gaining momentum.

It takes another couple of moments for the remaining students to find a seat, fights nearly breaking out in order to be next to the two members of SOLIDER. The doors are pulled shut as the principal of the school makes his way to the stage, knowing that no one is paying attention to his actions.

Getting behind the podium he presses a button that lets the sound of a gong fill the room, calling the attention of the students to him. Pleased that the majority have responded in one try, he begins his prepared speech that he gives each year to the new students. The only changed he has had to make this year is changing the part about the SOLIDERS who will be the mentors for the year, normally Angeal and Genesis take the responsibility, but as the two have requested time off to sharpen their own skills and Gifts, Sephiroth and Zack Fair have been brought forward for the same task.

In just a few minutes it is easy to tell that he has lost the attention of the majority of the students and that the SOLIDERS have once again taken the spotlight in the eyes of the students. Knowing that it is inevitable, the principal goes on with his speech, making sure that his staff are passing out the appropriate paperwork when necessary throughout it.

In just over an hour he is finished with his speech and the students are sent out in groups to tour the facilities and get to know one another.

Once the students have all filed out, both Sephiroth and Zack give out a soft sigh. The amount of tension and scents of fighting dominance that have filled the room would have been enough to send waves of the normal population to their knees in submission. To them, it was difficult to hold back from asserting their own dominance in order to settle the crowd.

To have that tension leave allows the two of them to relax some, but still keep them on edge enough to know that they are required to go out and walk about the campus, letting the students approach them and talk to them for the next few hours which will ignite such displays again.

And they know that it is just the beginning of what is to come for the next year.

The two head out together, knowing that having the support of a friend will be better than having to handle the crowds alone.

When they step outside it is obvious that very few of the students have followed the rules and followed their assigned groups around campus, electing instead to wander in their own groups. Battles of dominance play out in varying degrees in nearly every direction.

The two opt to start towards the dorms, knowing that they will encounter the majority of the students on their journey, and then by the time they arrive, most of the students will have already spent their energy on each other, making their jobs easier.

This year they encountered few students willing to talk and interact with them, most either simply watching them or turning away. Sephiroth knew that this was Zack’s gift at work. The ability to manipulate the energy and focus of those around you did occasionally become useful.

It took them less time than usual to reach the dorms, both of them are relieved that there are few students about at this time.

They are about to head into the dorms when the faint sounds of a scuffle catch their attention.

Both know that they want to head inside and let the students fight among themselves now to get it out of their systems, but both also know that they cannot ignore it. Better to reprimand the students now, than to let it get out of hand and have someone get hurt.

The two walk quickly and steadily towards the sounds, the scents of alphas trying to dominate someone surround them as they get closer to the fight.

Sephiroth can already tell how this confrontation is going to go and he dreads the paperwork that will come his way as a result.

Suddenly he can feel and hear Zack tense, fragmented images of the mysterious friend flashing into his mind. Suddenly a scent that is separate from the dominating scent of alphas meets him. This one is defiantly not that of an alpha, it is sickly, wrong, as though a part of someone had died. Distress and fear is evident.

The two SOLIDERS round the corner and are faced with the sight of five young alphas pinning down and shouting “Submit” at a figure on the ground. It is clear that this fight has been going on for a while. The figure on the ground is covered in blood and dirt, their mass of blond spikes lying limply under the weight of the filth. The victim seems to be struggling to fight back and escape.

SPIKE!

The strength of the thought startles Sephiroth. Despite whatever feelings he has had about Zack going behind everyone and having a normal human as a friend, he is not about to let anyone suffer for no good reason.

It is as though his mind and body are on autopilot as he begins summoning his will in a way he has done only a few times.

“Submit.”

It comes out hardly louder than a whisper but the effect of his Voice is immediate.

The alphas around him collapse as his will is forced on them. Only Zack is left untouched from its effect, just as Sephiroth has intended.

The younger Alpha rushes forward and pulls the other alphas off of the smaller blond. His eyes and hands frantically searching to find out just how serious his injuries are.

There is something about the sight that irks Sephiroth. It is unfathomable as to why that may be, but it simply is.

Zack stands and pulls the unconscious blond close to him. “Spike’s not doing too good. I’m going to take him to a hospital. If anyone asks, just tell them I left for an emergency and I’ll make it up to them later, alright?” He wipes some of the blood off of the face of the blond. The words “Just stay with me Spike” are almost missed by Sephiroth.

This bothers Sephiroth even more. “Why not just call an ambulance for him? I’m sure that would be the fastest and safest way to handle this.”

Zack turns on him, anger blazing in his gaze. “They won’t take him. No hospital in this area will take a sick beta from the slums. You know this just as well as I do. I’m taking him somewhere where they really will care about him, and not his status.”

Sephiroth watches as his friend runs with the smaller figure carefully tucked against him. His anger levels rise.

He feels as though something important was just ripped away from him.


	3. Aftermath

Chapter 3

Zack runs as quickly as he can across the campus, taking care not to jostle the still unconscious Cloud more than strictly necessary. He can hear students and school administrators yell after him as he dodges around the startled people in his path. He knows that he should not be doing this, that he should let someone else take care of Cloud, that it would be safer for everyone that way. But he knows that no one else will get Cloud to somewhere that will really help him.

When he finally manages to reach the guest parking lot, he fumbles to try to continue supporting Cloud while he digs in his pocket for his keys. Once he finds them he barely manages to push the button to make sure that the doors are unlocked before he reaches the vehicle. He fumbles around once more before managing to pull the passenger side door open.

He carefully eases the blond beta into the front seat, taking care to make sure that he is secured before running over to climb into the driver’s seat.

With practiced precision, he eases out of the parking spot, and slams his foot against the gas pedal, hoping that he can make it to one of the hospitals closer to the slums before Cloud gets any worse. 

As he drives he keeps checking on the condition of the blond, not able to tell if he is getting better, or worse. He knows that Cloud was in bad shape when they found him, and with Sephiroth using his Voice, it was all probably just too much for the small blond.

Zack grimaces at the sight of fresh blood still dripping from the blond’s various wounds. He knows that Cloud needs treatment and fast. If this was not so serious he would have just taken the blond home with him and treated him there, but these types of injuries are not something Zack feels comfortable treating on his own.

The traffic is starting to slow down with the end of day rush hour beginning and before too long they have reached a complete standstill. 

Zack looks over at his friend, noticing how much paler than normal the blond seems, and how shallow his breathing has become. He knows that at his rate the blond will have even more problems the longer they wait.

He quickly surges the vehicle off onto the shoulder of the highway and shuts it down. He rushes to unbuckle and pull Cloud out of the vehicle. Taking a moment, he leaves a business card under the windshield wiper.

Turning back to the stopped traffic, he maneuvers Cloud onto his back and breaks one of the main rules he is subjected to under Shinra: Never use any of your abilities in public without permission from the company.

He runs.

Using his enhanced abilities that come as part of being a Gifted, he put all of his power into his speed and precision, racing around and over vehicles that are in his path.

It takes all of ten minutes at this speed to reach the first hospital that Zack thinks may help Cloud.

He decreases his speed at he approaches the hospital, thrusting his shoulder against the door, throwing it open. He rushes in shouting for someone to come and help.

In moments he is surrounded by doctors and nurses who are prying Cloud off of him and rushing the blond into the back.

He is handed a clipboard full of forms and papers and a pen. He is then directed to a seat in the waiting area and asked to fill out as much information as he can about Cloud.

Zack has to take a moment to calm down, to reassure himself that this is the best place for Cloud to be right now.

He looks around, taking in the dated but clean interior of the place. He can only hope that the people here know what they are doing.

He turns his attention back to the forms in his hand. He fills in what he can, but he soon realizes he knows next to nothing about Cloud, his past, or his medical history. He fills in what little he can before handing it over to the nurse at the front desk.

The waiting is the hard part.

No one has come out to tell him how Cloud is doing, or even what condition he really is in.

Zack has been there for hours and the sun has long since set before a doctor comes out to talk to him.

“I hear that you are the only person who has come to see about the care of Cloud Strife.” The doctor is obviously tired and does not really care that there are no other friends or family members present. “Walk with me.”

Zack stands, his hands nervously clenching and unclenching. “How is he?”

The doctor shakes his head. “It could have been much worse, and it could also have been much better. Thankfully most of his injuries were minor, a couple of broken ribs and a light concussion the worst of it.” It is obvious that this does not put Zack at ease. “If you hadn’t stepped in when you did, this might have been much worse. A little internal bruising is nowhere near as bad as internal bleeding.”

“So when do you think he’ll be able to go home? Will he need anyone there with him because of the concussion? I know he’s his only source of income, will he have to be out from work for long?” Zack can feel more questions bubbling up, the stress of unknowing clawing at him.

The doctor turns back to him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. “Much of that will depend on Mister Strife.”

They stop outside a closed room. The doctor hands another clipboard to Zack. “We were unable to contact any next of kin or anyone else who could provide us with further information about Mister Strife. Seeing as you are the one that brought him in and seem to know at least a few things about him, I ask you to look through these reports and see if anything seems off to you or if anything should be added.” Seeing Zack’s look of confusion and concern he continues, “Most of this is just daily routine and nutrition information. It will help us to know what all we need to try to correct or keep in place before he is released.”

Zack takes the board and pen with a grim face. 

He is ushered into the room and he immediately has the desire to leave and forget what he has seen. But he goes in and takes a seat on the stiff plastic chair instead.

For as long as Zack has known him, Cloud has always had an air of gentle defiance about him, as if he dares the world to tell him that there is something that he cannot do or accomplish because of who he is and where he comes from. But to see such a strong person so pale and connected to so many machines to make sure that they really are alive is like watching someone be sentenced to a very slow death.

He sets the paperwork aside and reaches out to take Cloud’s hand into both of his. The small hand is cold and lifeless in his grasp, the callouses gained from years of hard work the only texture that stands out from the icy feeling.

He stays like that for a while, hoping that Cloud might gain some comfort from it.

After a few minutes he decides that he needs to distract himself otherwise this situation may threaten to overwhelm him. He has been trained for years to be able to do whatever job is given to him, to both help and hurt people. But never before has someone he cared about been hurt in such a way.

He reaches for the clipboard full of papers and starts glancing through them. It becomes very apparent that he does not understand most of the medical terminology used, but there are a few things that he does understand. He sets the papers down and presses a hand to his face.

They had messed up the paperwork. The papers he was given may have Cloud’s name on them, but they were not his, or in any way, about him. Zack figures that given the location of the hospital it must just be a busy day and occasionally mistakes do manage to happen. While it is not appreciated he can understand that it could happen. He will just have to give the papers back to a nurse and get the correct ones to look over later.

For now he figures that Cloud will not be waking up any time soon, so this would be an excellent time to take a nap, that way he can be awake and alert when the blond wakes up.

Eventually a nurse comes in to check on Cloud’s vitals and manages to startle Zack awake.

The male nurse does not pay much attention to Zack, but rather goes through his tasks for caring for Cloud. The whole process does not take very long and at the end of it the nurse goes over to the IV drip for cloud and pulls out a syringe that he adds to the dripping fluid.

When he has cleaned up and turns to leave, Zack calls out to him.

“Wait.” He catches the nurse half way out the door. “I went through the files like I was asked, but these aren’t Spi- Cloud’s.” He gives a reassuring smile. “Mistakes happen, I just want to make sure that the person who really needs these gets them.”

The nurse grabs the clipboard and quickly scans through the information and compares it to his own copy. With an annoyed sigh he slaps the clipboard back into Zack’s hands. “These are all correct.”

Zack tries to hide his irritation. “They can’t be his. Cloud is a beta through and through. These are the results for an omega. And from what I can understand, that omega has a lot of health issues that need to be taken care of.”

The nurse rolls his eyes. “These are the correct papers. Your friend is an omega. You want to know what causes all of those health issues and imbalances? When they take suppressants for too long, at too high a dosage, or a combination of both. From what these results say, we can safely assume that your friend was doing the latter, probably trying to pass as a beta for some reason.” The nurse gives a sarcastic smile. “Seems like it worked on you.”

“Then what you added to the drip just now was –“

“Yes, hormones. His system has probably been imbalanced for so long that it has the potential to go into shock or withdrawal.”

The nurse seems so nonchalant about the whole ordeal that Zack is struggling to keep himself contained and not simply demand the answers out of the man. “Isn’t there anything else that you people can do? Someway to make him better faster?”

The nurse gives a frustrated sigh. “If we knew exactly what he was taking that would help us immensely. There would be less guessing and we would be able to know what type of symptoms he will likely develop and in what time frame.” He sees the glimmer of hope in Zack’s eyes. “But he didn’t have any with him, and since it would seem that he has been successfully hiding his nature for quite a while, I would assume that his family has either turned a blind eye or are the ones supplying him with the suppressants. Either way, we have no way to know for sure. We could do more, but we don’t know enough, and probably won’t anymore than we already do.” With that the nurse turns away and leaves Zack with more questions than answers.

Zack turns back to look at Cloud. The beeping of the machines filling the silence and seeming to beat a steady rhythm into Zack’s head. Without stopping to consider what he is about to do, he turns and leaves the hospital with one destination in mind.

The one place that he knew Cloud would never let him visit. And now he knows why.

Even with help from an information card he may or may not have slipped away from the blond when they first met, it takes him over half an hour to reach the building that houses Cloud’s apartment. The outside is faded and worn from age. The dirty brown exterior making the building seem dark and foreboding in the crowded neighborhood.

He enters the doorway and stops when he realizes that he has no key to go in any further. He contemplates the old-fashioned pad on the wall that would let him page an apartment and hopefully someone would eventually let him in, and tell him which unit the blond has been residing in.

Before he can do anything, the door behind him opens once more and a mop of reddish-brown hair maneuvers expertly around him. The kid does not stop for a moment before simply pushing the remaining door inward and heading off into the hallway.

For a moment Zack is in shock about the lack of security and how easily he could have done the same thing, but then he realizes that his easiest way to get the information he needs is almost out of sight. Deciding that he should try and catch the kid before he gets too far, he opens the door, slightly in awe, and dashes down the hall.

“Hey kid, wait up.”

The kid turns, surprised to see a strange adult with crazy hair rushing towards him. He takes a step back involuntarily, knowing that this might not end well.

Zack stops, feigning being out of breath. “Do you know which unit Cloud Strife lives in?”

The kid looks confused and slightly taken aback. His eyes suddenly narrow. “Who wants to know?” He can tell that the tall stranger is confused. “Did Red send you? “

Zack has no idea what this kid is talking about or whom “Red” even is. He knows he has few other options, so he decides to just go with it. “Yeah, Red sent me to drop some stuff off with Cloud. He said he couldn’t personally make it this time.” He is hoping that the kid buys it. All he needs is the door to the unit, he can figure out the rest when he gets there.

The kid is still giving him a funny look, but waves a hand at him to follow. Knowing that he has few other options at the moment, Zack follows.

It takes a few minutes to navigate through the twisting halls and haphazardly placed staircases, but soon Zack finds himself standing alone outside a seemingly insignificant door with the paint flaking off of the identifying number. The kid who led him up here is no where insight, though Zack has a feeling that that kid will somehow know whatever he does once he gets inside Cloud’s apartment.

A quick try reveals that Cloud at least has a functioning lock on his door, and that any spare keys in the hall are very well hidden. He tries to put himself in Cloud’s place, and uses that knowledge to find a key that would easily be accessible to the blond, but with no success.

Zack is about to give up and try to find something to pick the lock, but a glint of light catches his attention.

He finds a key squeezed precariously in a small hole in the wall that is at the top of the doorframe.

Taking his small victory in stride, he slips the key in the lock, and much to his delight, the lock clicks and the door opens.

Zack enters quickly and shuts the door behind him, tucking the key in his pants pocket for future use.

Looking around he feels a pang of sadness in his heart.

All around him beige paint is peeling off of the walls, the wooden floor is warped and splintering in many places. There is a distinct lack of light sources, and it would appear that very few of the appliances in the kitchen are ever used.

But the most surprising thing to Zack is the size of the place.

The apartment is tiny, boasting all of a small kitchen crammed in one corner, a small living space connected to it, and then the other half of the space is divided between a walled off “bedroom” and a tiny bathroom.

Zack hurries over and checks the bathroom after realizing the water is running. When he discovers it empty, he shuts off the water and begins searching for any places where Cloud could be hiding the suppressants in the small room. He checks the most obvious places first, and when that yields no results, he broadens his search.

He eventually finds an unmarked prescription bottle with small white pills inside.

He sniffs at them, trying to figure out for sure if these are what he has been searching for. The scent of death and illness greets him, and in a moment he knows he has found what he has been searching for.

It is the same scent that he often smells lingering on Cloud.

He debates on just taking the whole bottle with him, but decides to only bring a couple of the pills. As much as he wants to confront Cloud about everything that the blond has been hiding, he knows that he cannot. Not without exposing his own secretes and probably losing any trust and respect that Cloud has had for him.

He takes one last look around the bare apartment, noting that despite its size and state of disrepair, it has been well cared for and is extremely clean compared to the rest of the building.

There is also a distinct lack of personal mementos. There are no pictures, no trinkets or personal collections, just some simple bedding, a few scattered clothes, and dishes drying by the sink.

It makes the place seem very generic and impersonal. It almost seems like there is no one really living there at all, but rather that someone is simply visiting and leaving their mark.

Zack intends to leave it that way, so that when Cloud returns, he will not know that Zack was ever there.

He exists and locks the door behind him, keeping an eye out for that kid again as he makes his way back to the front of the building.

He makes it there with no interactions or sightings of any kind so he simply shrugs off his paranoia and exits the building, intending to bring the pills back to the staff at the hospital.

He hopes that Cloud wakes up when he gets back.

The trip back to the hospital is uneventful and it gives Zack too much time to think.

Cloud is an omega. That much he believes now.

That changes many aspects of their relationship.

Zack does not want anything to change.

However, there is a difference between what he wants and what reality dictates.

When he reaches the hospital he quickly surrenders the pills to a member of the staff who said that they would analyze the contents as soon as possible. Knowing that he needs to see Cloud and talk to him face to face, he heads back down the halls.

When he arrives at the door to the room, he can see that Cloud is awake and responding to the nurse who is taking his vitals. 

He waits until the nurse leaves before he enters the room, a grin plastered on his face.

As he walks up to the blond, Zack decides that he will not mention anything he has learned to Cloud. If the blond had wanted him to know he would have told him. For now he will try to continue to trust Cloud’s judgment, but he knows that things will change drastically before too long.


	4. Planning Ahead

Chapter 4

The first thing Cloud notices after feeling nothing for a while is the growing pain. 

He quickly feels like he has been hit by a truck, again. Only his memory of that incident tells him that the truck hurt a whole lot less than how he feels now.

He groans inwardly.

He remembers everything that happened. He remembers his delivery assignment, the school, and the silver-haired Alpha who used their Voice.

After that, he has no idea of what happened next.

A faint beeping sound starts making its way into his consciousness.

Cloud can vaguely tell that he is somewhere unfamiliar, but at the same time he cannot seem to make himself care. Wherever he is, he feels warm and safe, and most of all he feels normal.

It feels nice to feel normal; it is not something that happens often. Usually it means – 

The last thought has Cloud’s eyes shooting open at the revelation. He takes in his new surroundings carefully, a sense of panic slowly raising with each new sight. 

Faintly cream-colored walls, and a white curtain catch his attention first. The wires connecting him to various beeping and humming machines the second things noticed. And finally, the underlying scent of excessively used cleaners fill his lungs and make him want to throw up.

Cloud hates being in hospitals with every fiber of his being.

He knows that they exist to help people, and that is something he will never put against them. However, he knows how the system works, especially in a city as large as Midgar. Every bit of information that a hospital records about you will eventually be found by the organizations and groups struggling to control the city and its inhabitants. Information such as blood work, medical history, and dynamic that is important for treating people effectively is also good information if you are trying to control or find someone, or those close to them. It is also an effective filter should anyone be looking for someone that fits specified criteria.

That being said, this has happened to Cloud before, and he knows that in a city this size he might have a little more time than before. In the worse case scenario he figures that the first to send someone after him will be in about two days. In the best-case scenario, he has a week before he needs to be long gone from the city.

He can hear footsteps approaching and he sees a nurse enter. He watches closely as they wordlessly add a vial of liquid into the IV that he is hooked to. He catches her eye quickly, and seeing the faint blush dusting her cheeks and smelling the faint scent of alpha escape from behind her perfume, he looks away, not needing to ask what he has just been given.

That explains the normal feeling. Hormones are both his friend and his enemy.

Taking that into account he now figures that he has five days, if he is lucky.

He can sense the nurse beside him taking his vitals; occasionally she asks him questions relating to how he is feeling, and how bad his pain is. Thankfully she keeps everything professional, which is more than Cloud could have hoped for in this situation.

He can feel his thoughts clearing. The added hormones are doing what they are supposed to by kick starting his system from what he has been putting himself through.

History can be a hard thing to hide from, and it is not always the healthiest thing to do.

The nurse leaves, and he thinks he can have a moment to think his next actions through carefully.

And then Zack practically runs into the room, crushing that moment.

As the Alpha makes his way over, Cloud can tell that there is something off about the older male. His smiles does not quite meet his eyes like it normally does, he seems overly tired, and he does not have is usual swagger when he walks, now it seems straighter, more formal. But the biggest thing that Cloud notices is that the usual makeup Zack wears when they meet, which Cloud assumes is to “hide” his true identity, is missing, letting him see and interact with the face of one of Midgar’s most recognized and exploited Gifted.

These factors alone tell Cloud a few important things, but as the Alpha sits next to him, he detects a slight scent that tells him all he needs to know.

Zack has been interacting with Denzel.

And Denzel never leaves the apartment complex.

Which leaves only one option: Zack somehow now knows the truth about him. He does not know how or why, but that no longer matters.

The question now remains: what will Zack do with this knowledge?

Cloud does not believe that Zack is the type of person who would use this knowledge against him, but it will undoubtedly change their relationship, and the question is not when, for that much is already apparent, but how?

“—And then I ran – Are you even listening to me Spike?” 

Zack’s voice breaks through Cloud’s chaotic thoughts. He refocuses his attention on the raven sitting next to him. “I’m sorry, I was thinking.”

Zack lets out a strained laugh. “You need to be careful about doing that too much. One day your thoughts might just run away. Then where would you be? I might be able to be your knight in shining armor every once in a while, but I can’t save you from your own thoughts.”

Cloud tries to smile, but his mind is still trying to process everything. “Then I should make sure to not be a damsel in distress anymore. But then the knight will be out of work.”

Zack lets out a real smile. “Oh there is always work for me to do, there are damsels in distress everyday in a city this size. Some are just more fun to rescue than others.”

“Then I’ll just have to make sure to point them out to you. With your sense of direction, you’re sure to walk right past them.” Cloud is finding the banter relaxing, and it is helping him become at ease with Zack once again.

“Awww that’s not fair Spike! I managed to get you here, didn’t I? And I didn’t even have to stop for directions.” Cloud can sense that Zack is becoming more at ease as well, but he can also tell that the Alpha is trying to tread carefully with his words now.

Cloud wheezes out a laugh. “Alert the presses, Zack failed to get lost going in a straight line.”

“You are a terrible patient. Aren’t people in hospitals supposed to be sick and quiet? Not loud and making fun of their best friend?” Zack fakes looking shocked and repulsed.

Cloud reaches over to swat him with his least bandaged hand. Zack catches it and holds it for a moment before releasing it.

He mulls over his thoughts for a minute before shifting into a more serious tone of voice. “They said you have a concussion. I know that in a place like this, now that your up and talking, they’ll probably send you home soon with instructions about how to take care of yourself, or have someone take care of you until the danger is past for that. Do you have someone back home who can be there for you like that for the next few days?”

Cloud is a bit taken aback with the question. His mouth opens to answer that he does, his mind automatically thinking of Denzel, but he stops, his thoughts jumping ahead for him.

He needs somewhere safe to recover for a few days, but each day that he remains in the city puts him at a greater risk. And the greatest risk comes from people as powerful as Zack, or those that control a person like Zack.

What better way to hide from those in power than by hiding with someone who they would automatically dismiss because they are already known?

Cloud opens his mouth again, trying his best to sound defeated. “No, I guess I don’t. I’ll figure something out though, so don’t worry about it.”

Zack rolls his eyes. “It’s precisely because of that that I do worry about you. How about this, while you are supposed to be under watch, you can stay at my place. You can relax and recover like you are supposed to and not try to head back to work right away like I know you will.” Cloud tries to look innocent at the accusation. “I’ve got a great movie collection if I do say so myself, so you can be a couch potato and we can have Wutai food for dinner, the good stuff mind you, not that terrible stuff you usually get.”

“You just want an excuse to act like a kid again and stay up all night watching scary movies like its some sort of sleepover.”

Zack grins, knowing he has won this battle. “If someone isn’t a kid at heart, they’re just a boring old adult who doesn’t understand the simple joys in life.”

“And you are just a giant kid with a fancy job and a nice apartment.” Cloud smiles before turning to look towards the single window in the room, the sun starting to brighten the sky for the day. “Zack, how long was I out?”

Zack looks around for a clock before finally pulling out his PHS. Ignoring the notices of multiple missed messages, he finally finds the time glaring at him from the screen. “Looks like it is nearly six in the morning. Almost breakfast time.”

“I didn’t ask your stomach what time it is. But I guess that does tell me what I want to know. I was out for almost half a day, wasn’t I? But at least I can leave later today, if they let me. I would rather sleep off the pain meds somewhere else.”

Zack laughs. “Tell you what, when we get to my place I’ll switch out the sheets and you can have the bed for the duration of your stay. I swear that thing is like sleeping on a cloud. And the couch, well that is nothing to overlook either, I made sure both were optimal for such an activity.”

“I can’t take your bed. I’ll just sleep on the couch like any normal guest.” Cloud is trying to imagine just what kind of place a person like Zack would live in. He figures with a company like Shinra behind him, Zack probably has a pretty nice place.

“Oh no you don’t. The last thing I want you doing is rolling over and off the couch and then making your head injury worse. You take the nice comfy bed, and I’ll take the nice comfy couch. We both win and you don’t have to put up with my snoring.”

“Fine, but I get to get some of my stuff from home first. I just really don’t feel the need to be borrowing your underwear too.”

Zack grins, his normal self slowly returning. “If you do that, you will find all of your own strung to the most public place I can find, my friend.”

A doctor knocks on the frame of the room. “Am I interrupting something?”

Cloud lets out a laugh, and quickly grabs his sides as the pain flairs. The doctor walks over, shaking a disapproving head at Zack. “Please try to not make our patients be in more pain than they already are.” He looks over Cloud’s paperwork again before making eye contact with the blond. “While we would prefer for you to remain here until your injuries are more stable, you are free to leave when you wish. You are incredibly lucky to have this young man rush you here like he did.”

Cloud turns to Zack. “Yeah, I am.”

The doctor leaves a packet of papers for Cloud with all of the information he needs to make sure he takes care of himself like he is supposed to. Buried within the information are papers on the possible side affects he could expect from being off of his suppressants.

He resists the urge to let his gaze flicker over to Zack. He knows that the conversation the two of them need to have is growing longer with each moment.

Cloud sends Zack off to sign him out of the hospital, and to have him send in someone who can unhook him from all of the beeping machines. Zack gives a firm nod before wandering out of the room.

It only takes a couple of minutes before a nurse comes in and begins to help Cloud prepare to leave. The disconnecting from the machines is the easy part; the getting dressed without putting extra pressure on his ribs is the hard part.

Cloud can feel other eyes on his back as the nurse helps ease a shirt over his head as he sits on the bed; the same one he was wearing yesterday, but with much less blood and dirt after a thorough cleaning. He knows exactly what those eyes are staring at, but he makes no movement to acknowledge the gaze, knowing that this too will have to be added to his explanation.

Once the shirt is on, and he is helped to his feet, Cloud turns to catch Zack quickly backing away from the window. In a moment the raven bursts into the room acting like he was not just staring inside a few moments ago. “Good news Spike! You are now a free man. What do you say about making a quick stop for breakfast? I’m sure Tifa would just love to dote on you in your condition.”

Cloud tries to crack a smile. “As tempting as that sounds, how about we go and grab my stuff and then we see about breakfast. I think I still have some cereal left in the cupboard.”

“You would choose cereal over pancakes? You must have hit your head harder than I thought!”

“Ok I see your point. But still, stuff first, then food.” Cloud eases his way over to Zack, trying to hide the wince that threatens to break through with each step.

“You drive a hard bargain, but we can try it your way, this time.” Zack flashes a winning smile. “Besides, I get to drive this time, so you pick breakfast and we’ll call it even.”

They slowly but steadily make it out of the hospital and across the parking lot. Parked in the furthest back corner all by itself is a simple but sporty silver coup. Cloud takes a moment to study the slim, but intricate curves of the car, and internally wonders if the looks are just for show.

Zack guides him into the car and quickly jumps in the other side, easing out of the parking lot and down the road without another thought.

Cloud looks at the black leather interior of the vehicle and struggles against the urge to touch everything. 

However, a bright yellow paper sticking out of the passenger side cup holder does require his attention. He grabs it and scans it quickly before speaking up. “Whose car is this?”

Zack makes a startled sound before refocusing his attention on the road. “What makes you ask that?”

Cloud takes the paper and shoves it in Zack’s face. “Says here this vehicle belongs to one Angeal Hewley, and that it was also recently towed off of the main interstate, and cleaned.” He can see Zack grow slightly pale. “First of all, why would a famous Gifted like Angeal Hewley randomly leave their vehicle on the side of a road? And second, how in the world do you know him well enough that he trusts you with his car?” He pauses when Zack does not give an immediate response. “You didn’t steal the car did you? You didn’t steal the car of one of the most famous Gifted in all Midgar, did you?”

“No! No I didn’t steal the car! What kind of person do you take me for Spike?” Zack runs a nervous hand through his hair. “I didn’t steal his car, I simply borrowed it without him knowing, alright? It will be back in place before he gets back, I’ll have the bills on it paid and he’ll never know. That’s all that matters.”

Cloud stares at him, expecting more of a response.

Zack looks away, but he can feel the pressure of that gaze. After a few minutes he breaks. “Fine, you want to know the truth? Remember when I said I have a mentor who I can’t talk about? Well I’ve been working with Angeal Hewley for a while now and he’s been like a mentor to me. But I just can’t go around telling people that. He’s really a private guy, so I don’t want to hurt him like that.” He pauses, letting out a loud breath. “Don’t tell anyone I told you this, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Cloud laughs. “Who is going to believe that I, Cloud Strife, of all people knows someone who has a boss that high up, and that I rode in his stolen car?” He laughs again. “No one! People would think I’m crazy.”

“I DID NOT STEAL THE CAR!”

Silence fills the car for the rest of the drive, though it is occasionally broken by a stifled laugh from Cloud. Zack tries to glare at the blond, but finds it hard too.

Soon they pull into the parking lot in front of Cloud’s apartment building. Zack gets out and helps Cloud ease his way out of the car. The two quietly making their way into the lobby of the building.

Zack notes that Cloud doesn’t search for a key and enters easily through the door that had him previously stumped.

As they enter Cloud can hear muffled footsteps rushing towards them. He sees Denzel race down the hall before the kid stops in front of them. His large blue eyes seem to hold their own light in the darkness as he takes in Cloud’s condition.

“What happened Cloud? First Red sends two guys to find you and then you come back looking like this?” He trails off, not knowing what to say while he analyzes the unspoken words Cloud is trying to send him.

“Let’s just say I got a bad job, and will be taking some time off. I’ve already talked with Red and he was cool about it as usual, but I got some help to grab some of my stuff. Doctor’s orders that I take care of myself properly. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.” He starts walking towards the elevator he hates using. Before he goes to far he turns back. “If you see Tifa let her know I probably won’t be able to help out on Thursday night like I usually do.”

“Ok Cloud, I’ll let Tifa know if I see her. Just remember that when she finds you she’s going to demand the full answer, and I’m sure she wont’ like what ever you tell her.” Denzel turns and starts heading back down the hall. “Take care of yourself and come back soon Cloud.”

“I always do. You take care as well.” Cloud gives the child a lingering look, knowing that Denzel will take care of everything, just like he normally does.

Cloud concentrates once again on making his way to the elevator, feeling Zack hover closer than usual behind him. He hits the button calling for the car, wincing when sounds of scraping metal grow closer. When the elevator arrives the two enter, and soon they are on their way.

Cloud feels his heart in his throat as the metallic screaming is louder in the box, and it shudders and shakes as it moves. The moment the doors open for his floor he nearly runs of the contraption, ignoring the flaring pain, and wishing he did not have to go back down in it later.

Cloud makes his way down the hall and digs in his pant pockets for the keys he put in there before leaving the hospital. Upon finding them, he quickly unlocks the door, opens it, and proceeds inside.

Once inside he makes his way over to the bedroom, motioning for Zack to stay in the small living area.

He calls back over his shoulder, “You know Zack, I never told you where I live or how to get here.”

Zack tries not to balk at that. He honestly had not thought of that when they left the hospital, all he was thinking about was getting Cloud what he needed before heading to his own apartment with the blond. “You gave me a business card when we first met, remember? You had your home address on it.”

Cloud appears out of the bedroom, his arms crossed carefully over his chest and his gaze hard. “No I didn’t. But you did pick one out of my wallet when you thought I wasn’t paying attention.”

Zack can feel himself pale and take an involuntary step back.

“Zack Fair, revered Gifted of Midgar, we need to talk.”


	5. History

Chapter 5

“Zack Fair, revered Gifted of Midgar, we need to talk.”

Cloud’s serious tone of voice sends shivers down Zack’s spine and alarm bells ringing inside his head. Cloud can see this effect, and also noting how Zack has make no open move of hostility or retreat, he knows that for the moment he holds all of the power in the room.

He can see Zack visibly fight with his words, his voice slightly shaking when he finally speaks, the usual teasing edge wearing thin. “I guess I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”

Cloud resists the urge to roll his eyes at the attempt, instead opting to walk over to the door, locking it. “Anyone with functioning eyes knows exactly who you are, with or without the makeup. Besides, your eyes give it away. The majority of Gifted have the same glow in their eyes. That is harder than anything else to hide. Anyone who knows what to look for can see the obvious.”

“So you know who and what I am? So what? What happens now? Is this really such a bad thing?” Zack is trying to edge his way out of this, play the peacemaker, but it comes out as more of a threat than an attempt at keeping the mood light.

Cloud gives a frustrated sigh, trying very hard not to simply yell and demand answers from the Gifted before him. “You of all people should know the answer to those questions.” He pauses, knowing that he is sounding harsher than he wants to. “I understand why you did it, and I forgive you for it. But you know that even if we wanted to keep things the way that they have been, there is no way that it can actually happen.”

Zack starts nervously pacing in front of Cloud, trying to work out his thoughts to say what he wants to, but without revealing too much information. “We have known each other for how many months now and nothing’s happened, right? You’re right that we can’t be as causal about meeting as before, but as long as you don’t tell anyone, and I start being a little more cautious, then it will be fine, Cloud.”

Cloud sighs again, running a hand through his hair, knowing that he needs to make Zack realize just what kind of a situation they are in now. “You know that’s not true. If it were really just a matter of being more cautious then this wouldn’t be an issue, but it’s not just about that, so the reality of everything remains.”

He is shaking now, knowing that he needs to say it, to know if his instincts are correct. If they are, then maybe Zack will actually try to understand where he is coming from, maybe, despite everything against them, he will continue to be friends with an omega. If his instincts are wrong, Cloud is planning on leaving early anyway.

“Now that I’m in the system because of the hospital visit, I’ll be leaving before the week is out. I have to. Staying in a city like this is just asking for trouble, and I don’t want you or anyone else to get caught up in a mess that is mine and mine alone.”

Zack has an uneasy look in his eye, like he wants to blurt something out, but is holding back, like he is waiting to confirm something. “What do you mean you’re leaving? What brought this on? What about your job? What about your friends? What about me? You know who I am, and seem to have an idea of what that means. Why would you just leave like this?”

Cloud looks Zack in the eye, soft blue meeting bright purple. “Being in the system means things get noticed, people notice things that are out of the ordinary. And usually not the best kinds of people. The moment you brought me to the hospital, my fate in this city was sealed. And now, I need to leave before anyone catches up with me.”

“What exactly are you talking about Cloud?”

“You know exactly what I am talking about. I don’t know how you know or why, only that you do. And that is all that matters right now.”

“Know what? What is it that I am supposed to know?”

“Don’t try to avoid it and skirt around the issue. Say it.” Cloud can feel the tension growing even higher, he feels like he will shatter if Zack states the truth, but he knows that the Alpha needs to confirm it with his own words, or it will never fully sink in for either of them.

“What? What do you want me to say? That I know you’re an omega? Yes! I know that you’re an omega! I saw it on your medical files. I didn’t want to believe it, but the doctors confirmed it.” Zack takes a deep shuttering breath. “I don’t see why you are freaking out about it like this.”

Cloud feels a sudden urge to scream at the Alpha, but at the same time is still processing that the Alpha actually admitted to knowing the truth. “You of all people should know what it means to be something out of the ordinary and in the system.”

Zack stops his pacing and turns back to Cloud. He steps over and grabs Cloud’s forearms, giving him a rough shake. “Explain to me what I’m missing here. Who could possibly want to find you?”

Cloud is taken aback by the action, shock settling in and disbelief making him want to scream yet again. He knows that he needs to rethink his approach to this. He can see the pleading desperation in Zack’s eyes, and he knows that the Alpha wants to understand, but he does not know exactly how to make Zack understand just how serious the matter really is.

“Do you know the tale of Taiyo and Tsuki?”

Zack furrows his brows in confusion at the sudden change of topic. “The omega twins in the old story? Of course I do, every kid hears that story growing up.”

“I don’t mean the children’s version, I mean the real story of how those events actually occurred.”

Zack looks even more confused. “But it is just a children’s story. A moral story to explain why things are the way they are now instead of how they used to be. There’s nothing more to it Cloud.”

“There is always a grain of truth behind the stories we are told as children.” He pauses, and unsteady breath leaving him as he shrugs his way out of Zack’s grasp. “I want you to understand where I am coming from. Will you humor me in this?”

Zack takes a step back, allowing Cloud to move. The blond omega shuffles over to the bedroom, wincing with each step. Zack then realizes just what he has done, and knows that he probably just aggravated Cloud’s wounds, yet the blond showed no sign of the pain he must of felt.

Cloud takes a seat on the bed and gestures for Zack to sit on the floor.

Zack humors him and takes a seat, feeling a bit like a child about to be told a bedtime story by their mother.

Cloud clears his voice and begins:

“Long ago, back when the world was divided and countries warred with their neighbors in never ending battles, a ruler came to power in the area we now call Midgar, his name was Boukun. A fitting name for such a ruthless man. This emperor reveled in the bloodshed of war, his bloodlust only rivaled by his desire for his reign to never end. Something he believed that he could achieve through having countless children.

“No one knows for sure if Boukun was simply unable to force his seed upon one of his various wives or concubines, or if the gods of old simply refused to let the bloodline of such a man continue past what already plagued the land. The truth of the matter may have been lost to history, but fact remains that with each unsuccessful attempt at producing a child, he stole more and more female betas and female omegas from their homes and forced them under him.

“Early in his reign he was a firm believer that the only means to having true offspring would be to impregnate a female beta or omega, and that by any other means the offspring would be unfit to rule in his place and in every way would be inferior. However, with each passing childless year, the emperor grew restless and sought out every means possible to continue his line.

“Eventually he felt that the gods must be forcing his hand, and against his prejudice against those he felt where inferior and a scar on his lands, be began having his palace guards go out into his lands and bring forth any unclaimed male omega that they believed would bear the emperor’s children. Omegas of all ages were stripped from their homes, many just coming into their dynamic, when they were presented to the emperor, some dismissed for imperfections, but most were confined to the palace to service the emperor whenever he desired.

“Nothing changed, the wars still raged and Boukun was granted no children.

“With each passing year the emperor grew more and more desperate and some say that a madness eventually claimed him, causing his infamous actions, but as the similar events unfolded in other lands around the same time, others claim that it was the result of socialized stigmas and paranoia that eventually drove him to do what he did.

“There was a night when the emperor was restless so he decided to take a stroll through his personal gardens. The night was clear, and all was quiet. The emperor had felt a peace for the first time in many years, but when the sounds of whispering caught his attention, his peace was shattered.

“Tucked underneath a bridge overlooking a koi pond, he finds to individuals, one a familiar and trusted general in his armies, the other a concubine who had recently be retrieved by his men. The sight of the two of them flames a building rage, and when they see just how close they are, and how much contact they make with one another, he begins to plot his revenge.

“For no one except the emperor may ever touch a royal concubine in any manner unless approved by the emperor himself, and no such permission had been given.

“The next day, the king called for his general, Taiyo, and gave him a new assignment which led him into direct conflict with the barbarian people steppe people of the north. The general accepted the assignment with no complaint and no questions as to the sudden urgency of the orders. He had left by the morning of the next day.

“Three months passed and with no news from the general and the area as hostile as ever, the emperor announced the general dead. However, it became obvious that something was wrong with the concubine that the emperor had spotted with the general.

“As it turned out, the concubine was pregnant.

“Boukun became enraged once again, knowing that the child that would come would not be his, but rather would be the offspring of what was once one of his most trusted generals. And knowing the truth that his general would not have died so easily, and that word would have reached him had Taiyo truly died, he began to plot a way to completely destroy the general.

“This time the emperor had had enough, and he sought revenge not just on the general, but on the very gods he felt had slighted him.

“If the gods would not grant him children, then he would not grant others the opportunity or the will to rise against him and question his reign.

“The order was given: bring every female omega, no matter age or status, bonded or unbound to the capital, regardless of age. And kill every male omega bonded or unbound not matter their age or status. Those caught failing to follow through with his orders were to be sentenced to the same fate as the male omegas. 

“None were to be spared, except the pregnant concubine. For Boukun knew, that the only way to have his revenge and be fulfilled in life would be to destroy what his general had openly stolen from him, and ultimately the general himself.

“Within days of the proclamation, the ground was scared red, and rivers of blood stretched in every direction. For all feared the wrath of the tyrant emperor should they go against his orders.

“By the time word had reached Taiyo, it was already too late. The only surviving omegas were either the few females who had been spared, or those male and female who were in hiding. Very few had survived the initial purge while thousands of their brothers and sisters had been slaughtered.

“With all haste he returned to the capital, only to find a trap waiting for him. And though he had anticipated it to an extent after seeing what the emperor had done to his empire, he still hoped that he was wrong.

“As he entered the gates to the palace he found the emperor waiting for him, the heavily pregnant concubine kneeling before him, a sword to his throat.

“The emperor spoke, ‘This is your doing. You who were as close as a brother to me, and yet you saw fit to betray my trust. You sought to receive what the gods denied me. And for that, I will deny you all that the gods have given you.’ 

“In one movement he slit the throat of the concubine, letting him bleed out on the once pristine palace steps.

“The king then told the general to leave his country and never return. The general bargained with the tyrant. He asked to be allowed to take a handful of men who would abandon the emperor in his absence, in order to let the loyal troops remain behind. He also asked as a personal request, to be given the heart of the concubine that was just slain.

“The king reluctantly agreed so long as the tasks be done before the setting of the sun on that day. And the general followed the words of the king, not daring to engage his wrath again.

“Taiyo took five men with him, all male omegas who had been surviving among the ranks of the emperor, and who had continued to hide their dynamic when the purge had begun. They traveled for many days before returning to the mountains that the general had called home in his childhood.

“Taiyo made a monument on that mountain, a record of what Boukun had done. And next to it, he made a grave for the heart of his twin brother, Tsuki, and the spirit of his unborn nephew, the only child of the tyrant emperor.

“From that point, the men scattered, six of the only remaining male omegas to exist in that land. And in the lands surrounding them, others of their dynamic began to face similar circumstances.

“By the end of the decade, the population of betas had been cut by nearly a fifth, and the omega population had only a handful of survivors, all who struggled to hide who and what they were, even after the purges were called off.

“To this day, that is how an entire dynamic was almost erased from the face of the earth, and how so very few remain. All because of a man who cursed the gods.”

When Cloud is finished with the tale, Zack is surprised to feel hot tears dripping down his own face. He quickly wipes them away and looks back to the omega, unsurprised to find him looking solemn from the story.

“You ok?”

Cloud looks up, catching Zack’s eye and knowing that his point has gotten across. “Ok as I can be, given the circumstances.”

Zack looks away, guilt filling his features. “This is all my fault. If I had just taken you back home and taken care of you there, then you wouldn’t be in the system, and you wouldn’t be at risk.” He hangs his head. “I can understand if you hate me for this.”

Cloud eases himself off of the bed and tilts Zack’s head up with a finger. “I could never hate you for what you did. You helped me more than anyone else has in years. Your intentions were pure, and for that I’m grateful. That is why I allowed to myself to stay here for so long” He takes his hand away. “This was bound to happen sooner or later, and it just happened sooner than I expected.” He sighs to himself. “I always figured that someone from work would figure it out, but I guess that I don’t have to worry about that kind of thing for a while.”

Zack lets out an uneasy chuckle. “Why did you lie on your work application? At least I’m assuming that you did.”

Cloud rolls his eyes. “Of course I did. How many places can you think of that hire omegas, male or female? None come to mind right away do they. Society will tell us that they we have equal opportunities for jobs and services, but everyone knows that’s a lie. We are expected to marry young, have loads of children, and be the perfect mates, not have a job or a career. If they’re lucky, some omegas can get a job as a secretary or something else that isn’t labor intensive. But really, if we either don’t lie to get a job or don’t have a family, the most common job is bending over for someone just to get enough Gil to survive. I refuse to do any of that and bow to society’s rules.”

Zack laughs for real this time. “Yeah, I can’t see you doing any of that without threating to hurt someone, even if you couldn’t back up that threat.” He pauses. “Do you really have to leave so soon?”

Cloud looks back at Zack. “You know I have to. It probably won’t be forever, but it will be a long time before I can stay in Midgar for any length of time without fear of recognition. In a few years I might be able to come back without having to constantly look over my shoulder. But until then, I need to leave and rebuild somewhere else.”

“But you’ll come back?”

Cloud gives a small smile. “Of course I will. Where else am I going to be able to eat pancakes with someone famous.”

“Besides, if I ever get scraped up this bad again, I’ll just call Aerith instead of waiting around for you. And I know that she’ll probably bring me a flower while I recover. Unlike some people who couldn’t even be bothered to bring me anything while I was in the hospital.” Cloud puts on a pouty face.

“Wait, wait, wait. And just how do you know Aerith? Yeah I know I didn’t give you anything except, you know, getting you to the hospital and breaking you out of there, but still, how do you know Aerith?”

Cloud chuckles. “Let’s just say I made a wrong turn and ended up falling into her church. I met her there, and the rest his history.” He pauses as he tries to phrase his next words carefully. “She’s a wonderful woman. You’re a lucky guy.”

Zack tries to make his face remain neutral as he thinks of the woman he is destined to be with. “Of course she’s wonderful. Though every time I see her recently, she is always going on about needing a better wagon to sell her flowers from. But what do you mean that I’m lucky? I mean I am handsome and kind of awesome, but that’s beside the point.”

“The two of you are soul mates, aren’t you.”

It is a simple statement, but one that Zack has been thoroughly trying to hide from the world.

“You know that you can’t hide it forever Zack. Someday, someone with ill intentions will find out. And when that day comes, you need to be prepared” Cloud straightens up. “I won’t tell anyone. I won’t tell anyone about Aerith as long as you don’t tell anyone the truth about me.”

Zack meets his gaze. They stare at each other with hardened eyes. “You have my word.”

“Good.”

Cloud begins to ease himself back up so that he is standing again. His face showing the strain that the flaring pain is having on him. “Now, if you give me a minute, I’ll be ready to be out of here and we can go to your apartment for the next few days. There had better be stuff other than junk food in the cupboards there.”

Zack springs to his feet. “You mean you’re still coming? I thought that after all of this and from what you said, that you would be leaving now.”

“Correction, I said I was leaving soon, but I can’t now. Give me a few days, but I would be a fool to travel before I gave myself any time to heal.”

“Alright, alright. I can take a hint. Come on Spike, grab your stuff and let’s go.”

Cloud makes short work collecting what he wants, which is a couple changes of clothes and a toothbrush. Soon they are leaving the apartment and waiting once again for the screeching elevator.

When the elevator arrives Denzel hops off and gives Cloud a silent questioning look. The blond simply nods in response to the unasked question.

The remaining trip out to the car is silent, and it is not until they are in the car and a good distance away from the apartment that Zack speaks up.

“You do realize just how dangerous it is for you to be staying at my place don’t you? I’m already watched as it is. You’re sure to be found out faster if you stay with me.”

Cloud nods. “I considered that, but at the same time, you are also one of the last people that they would believe that I am with, simply because you are under so much scrutiny. Where better to hide from those looking for you than directly in front of them in their own blind spot.”

Zack looks at Cloud. “You know, some days I feel like you’re just using me for your own personal gain.”

“Only when it suits my fancy.”

The two laugh.

In about half an hour, Cloud finds himself out of the borrowed vehicle and following Zack into a building at the heart of Shinra. The glistening exterior attempting to hide the grisly truth about the lives the company holds hostage.

After a long ride in a quite and smooth elevator to one of the top floors, the two follow a long neutrally colored hall until they reach a plain black door with the name “ZACK” printed in silver letters.

Zack fumbles for his keys for a minute before throwing open the door and gesturing for Cloud to enter. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

It is obvious that in just the living room of Zack’s apartment could hold at least two apartments of Cloud’s size. But Cloud does not have time to dwell on this too much as Zack is still moving through the room, expecting Cloud to still be following.

Zack throws open another door and bows dramatically as Cloud enters. “I know it’s a bit messy, but it’s clean.” He sees that Cloud is trying to take it all in and decides to give him some time alone. “Take you time and settle in. I’m going to go see if there actually is anything healthy to eat in this place.”

Cloud nods, his mind still trying to wrap its way around how someone could live and function in a room that is flooded with blankets and clothes thrown about in no apparent pattern or for any apparent reason. 

When he hears the door softly click shut, he mentally shrugs to himself and reaches forward and grabs the most comfy looking blanket he can spot nearby. He carefully tiptoes his way over to the large king sized bed, hoping not to knock over any piles of clothes in his path.

He eases himself on to the half-made bed and pulls the blanket close over himself.

With the weight of the day slightly lighter than before, Cloud closes his eyes, the pain of his injuries dulling as sleep welcomes him.


	6. Thoughts

Chapter 6

Sephiroth has decided that if he ever wants to have some form of peace in his life again, he is going to make Zack be the one to answer for his actions at the Gifted school instead of just attempting to avoid the topic each time it is brought up. Which has been frequently these last two days.   
After all, Zack was the one that suddenly left with the mysterious blond beta without more than a few words. It was Zack that left Angeal’s car abandoned on a main highway. And yet Sephiroth has been the one to hear all of the complaints and questions since the raven has made himself virtually disappear. He was also the one to have to deal with what to do with Angeal’s car, even though Zack somehow managed to find out and have it delivered who knows where just hours later.

And now he has heard that said raven has recently returned to his apartment in the Shinra complex and is refusing to speak to anyone or answer any calls.

How typical of Zack. To avoid the problem until it shows up at his doorstep.

But at least he brought back Angeal’s car, and it appears to be in one piece.

And now that Sephiroth is standing in front of the door to Zack’s apartment, he cannot help but feel that once again Angeal is right, the oversized puppy still needs to learn some manners and rules before he does something that all of them will regret.

He pulls out his copy of the spare key to Zack’s apartment and takes care to make sure that he is making enough noise to let Zack know that he is coming in. While he does not wish to startle the younger Gifted too bad, he still wants to see what kind of excuses Zack can come up with before he is presented with the facts and consequences of his actions.

Sephiroth enters the apartment and looks around, taking in the usual disheveled appearance and lack of organization that never seems to improve before heading to the only place that he can figure Zack would currently be hiding out.

With a distinct silence filling the large space that is usually occupied by loud and chaotic thoughts, Sephiroth goes to enter the bedroom, figuring that the raven would be shirking off his responsibilities to take a nap, again.

He opens the door, fully intending to let it fly back and hit the wall, hopefully startling Zack awake. But he catches it, the soft golden spikes sticking out of a pile of blankets on Zack’s bed make his intended thoughts and actions cease for a moment.

Whoever it is that is now in Zack’s bed is not Zack.

Memories of dreams of golden spikes and bright blue eyes are conjured up. Falling in place with them are memories from the school. A limp form, dull eyes catching his for a moment, and a bloody form on the ground.

The two sets of images conflict with each other in every way, yet they seem similar to one another.

Shaking his head to clear it, Sephiroth is faced with the urge to reach out and touch this stranger. To simply push the hair out of their face or stroke their cheek.

He pushes those thoughts aside, knowing that they are irrational and illogical as he does not even know whom this person is nor what instincts are telling him to do something so absurd.

Still, Sephiroth indulges himself to his instincts for a moment. He observes the messy room and manages to locate one more blanket. He carefully pulls it out from a horribly balanced pile of clothes and brings it over to the sleeping form.

Trying not to wake the sleeping form, he lays it gently upon them. The added weight causes the form to shift, and as they grab for the added blanket, they manage to have their soft spiky hair run over Sephiroth’s hand in the process.

Something inside of Sephiroth practically purrs in contentment at the motion.

Unable to help himself, he lets his hand settle among the soft spikes.

Almost immediately the figure under the blankets seems to relax completely. They shift once more, unconsciously baring their neck to Sephiroth.

Driven by instincts, Sephiroth leans forward, his long silver hair quickly enveloping the figure the closer he gets. 

He scents the person below him.

Immediately he feels a sense of purpose, of fulfillment. Like a missing piece of himself has finally been put back in place.

“Mine.”

It comes out as a possessive growl and Sephiroth hastily pulls himself away from the figure, fearing his own instincts.

He backs slowly out of the room, trying very hard not to wake the sleeping figure, but his eyes never leave them for a moment.

Once he has the door shut in front of him, Sephiroth is able to take a relieved, yet shaky breath.

His focus snaps back to attention at the practically screaming thoughts coming from behind him. He turns around and sees Zack standing there, his mouth half open, panic filling his violet eyes.

The two stare at each other for what seems like hours before Sephiroth speaks, hoping to ease the growing tension. “Do you need help with those?” He motions to the paper bags full of groceries that Zack has in his arms.

Zack looks away, his thoughts becoming even more chaotic. “Sure.” It comes out more as a whisper than intended, but Sephiroth makes no movement or gesture to indicate that he noticed that.

The two cross into the kitchen, and each take a bag of groceries to start putting away.

They stay silent for another moment; the tension between the two of them is nearly enough to make them start snapping at one another.

It is Sephiroth who attempts to break the silence first.

“I don’t think I have ever seen you bring back so much health food unless Angeal or Genesis are forcing it on you.” That sounded odd and forced, even to Sephiroth.

Zack lets out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, figured it was time I actually started listening to them. Maybe it will get Hojo off my back for a bit. The old coot is always complaining how his tests never come out right because I insist on not trying to keep myself healthy enough for him.”

Uneasy silence fills the room again. The attempt to distract themselves is not enough.

“I know that you have met your soul mate, Zack, and she is a beta. So why is there an omega sleeping in your bed?” Sephiroth had not meant to say that, but he is already trying to contain the rising jealousy he is feeling about the thought of the unknown omega staying with Zack in any capacity.

Zack looks away, guilt filling his word. “I can’t tell you that Seph. I want to, but I promised to keep their secrets, and I won’t go back on my word.”

Sephiroth has known Zack long enough to read between his words and takes the hint. He mentally prepares himself for a moment, and then he lets himself fully view and experience Zack’s thoughts.

Every mind is different to Sephiroth. Some are chaotic and difficult to find desired information in, while others are well organized and easy to find information in. Some are fully exposed, often bombarding him with every bit of information; while others have the thoughts locked away where it takes him time to find what he wants.

He knows that Zack has been trained to keep his thoughts contained in order for the SOLIDERS of Shinra to operate more effectively and efficiently together, so to have Zack allow him into his thoughts shows a level of utmost trust that he finds with few others.

The thoughts come to him quickly and easily; hours of experiences passing by in moments and Sephiroth is able to absorb it all.

By the time the thoughts have passed up until the present, Sephiroth understands everything relating to Cloud. He understands the pull that Cloud has had on Zack, he understands why Cloud has hidden his true nature, and he understands why Zack is desperately trying to help him.

However, that feeling of jealousy has grown a bit more, and so has the resentment at Zack’s actions, despite his good intentions.

His thoughts drift back to the young omega sleeping but a few steps away. The unexplainable urge to rush back and lay his claim on the blond rises up again.

He forces himself to refocus on Zack, knowing that he would have felt the invasion of his mind during the whole process, and that it is not always a pleasant experience despite how careful and gentle Sephiroth tries to be.

He sees that the younger Alpha has paled a bit, and that he looks extremely uncomfortable. He tries to push the onslaught of thoughts to the back of his mind as he usually does. Instantly some of his more aggressive instincts die away, but some still remain.

Zack looks relieved at this; his breath is shaky when he speaks. “So now you know.”

Sephiroth nods. “Yes, I understand now. I also understand how dangerous it is for him to be here. Wouldn’t it be safer for him to stay somewhere where he is less likely to be noticed? I’m sure Aerith would love to take care of him for a while.”

Zack looks up sharply. “So, how do you know about Aerith? I’ve never told you or Genesis, or even Angeal about her. And yet you talk like you’ve known the whole time.”

Sephiroth resists the urge to roll his eyes. Instead he merely taps his head.

“Oh, right.” Zack seems to deflate a bit. “I don’t think I need to tell you this, but you can’t let anyone know about either of them. I just . . . I just have a feeling that if someone does, things will not end well. For any of us.”

Sephiroth nods and looks towards the bedroom. “There is only so much either of us can do. And even then, it may not be enough.”

Zack nods, knowing that the likelihood of a peaceful life that they all want will disappear the moment the wrong person finds out about any of this.

A quiet alarm sounds and Sephiroth pulls a slim PHS out of his pants pocket. After checking the message and turning off the alarm he gives a look of apology to Zack. “It appears that I am needed elsewhere. For now I leave this in your care.”

Sephiroth can tell that the younger Gifted is trying not to look relieved when he speaks. “Just remember to threaten Hojo a few times for me, especially if he tries anything new on you. Last time you came back with a headache that lasted for four days and the rest of us felt it too because of whatever he did to you.”

Sephiroth simply nods, before giving the bedroom one last longing look before hurrying himself out of the apartment.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Each and every visit demanded by Hojo is a torture in of itself, but to Sephiroth the worst parts of every visit are always the various tests and scans that the crazed scientist performs on him to try and gauge the limits and capacity of his Gift.

Each time he is left with a monumental headache and his own mental barriers are nearly always torn down, letting the flood of thoughts invade his mind with no control and no limitations.

Today Hojo has given him something that is meant to slow his mental reactions just enough for them to be more observable, but to Sephiroth all it has done is make him feel sluggish and it becomes much harder for him to control his own thoughts.

Sephiroth can hear the scientist grumbling to himself somewhere behind the machine that has been taking scans of Sephiroth’s brain for the last few minutes. The annoying sounds coming from the machine making his head ache and his nerves ache to rip himself away, however the chill of the metal beneath him makes him hyper aware of where he is and what disobedience would entitle.

Finally the machine is pulled away and the sounds thankfully die down. But before Sephiroth can feel any sort of relief, Hojo is suddenly leaning over him, the constant look of contempt even worse than usual. “What’s wrong with you?”

Sephiroth is taken aback by the question, not knowing exactly what the scientists means.

“What’s wrong with you? None of these results make sense and are nowhere near the normal parameters. Something must have happened to change them.” The greasy scientist leans closer. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Sephiroth is trying to keep himself calm, but his mind is unwillingly calling forward images of Cloud, bruised and bloody, and in the same lab where he is now. Sephiroth knows that the images are false, and that if the crazed scientist ever were to find out about him, than there would be very little of the blond left by the time he had had his fill.

“I think you know exactly what I mean. According to these results, something has happened to make your brain go into overdrive. Many of the instinctual portions that you normally keep suppressed are overly active and your pheromone levels are higher than normal.” The scientist consults his charts for a moment. “The closest resulting matches are from the other SOLIDERS when their instincts have been driven into overdrive by a meeting with their so called “soul mate.”

Sephiroth tries to keep his face blank as his sluggish mind tries to wrap itself around what he is hearing. However, it seems that Hojo has noticed something off about him.

“Don’t be ridiculous. The idea that anyone can find a “soul mate” is ridiculous. It all can be explained biologically and scientifically. It simply means that two individuals are the most compatible for reproductive purposes which makes them biologically attracted to each other.” There is an odd gleam in his eye that puts Sephiroth on edge with that statement. “You started you teaching position at the new Gifted school this week didn’t you? Yes, I see, you must be biologically compatible with someone from that school.”

The scientist goes quiet and walks a few steps away. Sephiroth is feeling even more stressed as images of Cloud flash through his mind.

Suddenly the scientist is chuckling to himself, and he walks back to Sephiroth. “Surely you must know who it is that is causing this imbalance? If they really are your “soul mate” then your mind must be filled with thoughts of them, and your base instincts of an Alpha must be consumed by their scent. Now, tell me who it is.”

With each word out of Hojo’s mouth, Sephiroth can practically feel Cloud next to him as reality begins to click into place. But he tries to push it down, he knows showing any sort of reaction in front of Hojo would doom the blond in ways he cannot even begin to imagine.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. None of what you are describing is happening.” Sephiroth struggles to keep his voice as calm and impassive as possible. “It is probably just the change in environments and the added number of people I am around each day that is causing this. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Hojo frowns and his words come out as a growl. “I know that you are trying to hide someone from me. And mark my words, I will find out who it is. I will drag them back here if I have to.” He turns and leaves, practically spitting with anger.

Sephiroth takes the moment to untangle himself from the lab equipment before rushing out of the lab.

He is nearly out before he stops in his tracks as a realization strikes him. He cannot hear Cloud’s thoughts. Even when Cloud was sleeping, he was not able to access his dreams. Accessing dreams is one of the simplest things that his Gift allows him to do. And even back at the school, even though he was obviously in distress, Cloud’s thoughts should have been screaming for help. And yet, Sephiroth had heard nothing from him, only from his aggressors.

He tries to keep himself as calm and controlled as possible until he reaches the privacy of his own apartment. His thoughts becoming more frantic and confused with these new realizations.

Once there, he lets himself be overtaken by Hojo’s words and the reality of the last few days.

It all fit together perfectly.

Despite what he wants to think, he has unexpectedly found his soul mate.

And it happens to be Zack’s friend who also just happens to be a male omega.

And who just happened to be an omega that is planning to leave the city for an extended period of time in just a few days.

Part of Sephiroth wants to head back to Zack’s apartment. Now that he has let himself become aware of Cloud, he can practically feel the presence of the blond there. He wants to see him and know if Hojo’s words are really true, or if he simply wishes for them to be true.

He also wants to see if he really cannot hear any thoughts from the blond.

But, despite everything that has happened and ever argument he has against reality, Sephiroth knows the truth. He has found his soul mate.

He also knows that Hojo will be having his movements and interactions watched closely until he can determine who he thinks is Sephiroth’s “soul mate.”

He will not take the risk of putting Cloud in danger by seeing him simply to feed his own desire.

There is a solution entices him, but he pushes it aside, knowing that it has the potential to end just as badly as contacting the blond directly.

However, he knows that currently it is his only option, seeing as how Zack is just as monitored as he is.

Sephiroth forces himself across the room and over to his study. Entering the small room he heads to his computer desk and pull out a compartment that is hidden in the side. From inside the compartment he pulls out a simple PHS that he knows is not constantly monitored by Shinra.

He stares at the device for a moment, trying to determine once again if his actions are justified. Deciding that they are, he selects one of the few preprogramed numbers.

The phone rings several times before a tired sounding voice answers.

“Do you have any idea what time it is? I don’t care how important this is or if Genesis is wandering the streets drunk again.” There is a brief pause. “Ok I do care about that last one. That was just too funny last time. I swear some of those fans just about had a heart attack when he started stripping in front of the theater.”

“Reno, this isn’t about anyone is SOLIDER. If it were, I wouldn’t be calling you. Not after what happened last time.”

The laughter on the other side of the line pauses, and Reno suddenly becomes more serious. “Who could the almighty Sephiroth be wanting help for? I take it that this isn’t Shinra related if you’re calling me at this number and at this absurd hour.”

Sephiroth considers his options for a moment, he could have Reno help Cloud out of the city, but knowing the perverted beta, that is the last thing that Cloud needs when trying to leave quietly.

“I don’t you need to help anyone this time, but I do need you to be discreet about this.”

There is a pause and a frustrated sigh on the other end. “Fine, who or what do you want information on this time? And what do I get out of it?”

Sephiroth pauses again, knowing that this is it. This will either give him the answers he wants, or it will result in him having put his soul mate in even greater danger.

“You will get your usual payment.”

“Fine. I just want to go back to sleep, so what do you need?”

“I need you to get me all of the information you can on someone named Cloud Strife.”


	7. Eavesdropping

Chapter 7

Despite his rapid initial fall into the realm of dreamless sleep, staying there proves to be a more difficult task than Cloud would like. Between his aching sides, the unfamiliar scents in Zack’s room, and his racing thoughts, rest comes in quick but small amounts. Any subtle change in the environment is enough to wake him and cause him to be hyperaware of his surroundings, so he has opted to indulge himself in a false sense of security by cocooning himself in the available blankets to block out the unwanted disturbances.

Just as he is starting to feel like he can doze off again, Cloud hears the door swing open but immediately thinks nothing of it. After all, Zack has been acting liked a worried mother hen, and has been checking in on him frequently throughout the day.

Soon soft footsteps shuffle around the clutter filled room and again, Cloud ignores it.

When another blanket is gently laid on top of him, he reaches out and pulls it close, burring his face in the warmth.

He can feel that with his movement something has run through his hair. Considering how often Zack has played with it, claiming that it feels like down, he again ignores it, though it is still a distraction from sleep.

Suddenly an unfamiliar hand is laid on his head.

It feels as though his body has been stuck by lightning. 

All at once his mind is racing and he has the urge to move away and confront this new person, but at the same time his body is betraying him. He can feel his body give into his instincts and completely relax under the touch of this unfamiliar person.

While his more primal nature is suddenly relaxed and satisfied with the presence of this stranger, the rational and logical part is nearly screaming in confusion and is trying desperately to rebel against the primal part.

Just when Cloud thinks that he has calmed himself down enough to try to work through his instincts rationally, he feels added the weight of something as the stranger moves closer. A new scent is suddenly blocking out the faint scent of Zack that is embedded in everything in the room.

This new scent reminds Cloud of the mountain air of his childhood home. It is peaceful and comforting, yet it holds a cold undertone that can only be described as harsh beauty.

It screams of Alpha.

Suddenly Cloud can feel the body heat of this individual, just inches from his neck that his instincts have so easily offered.

The Alpha scents him.

Cloud can feel a part of himself shut down by this. He cannot believe that some strange Alpha has just scented him, without any warning or consent on his behalf.

Part of him wants to spring up and scent the Alpha back.

Part of him wants to yell at the Alpha for doing something so bold and intimate.

The reality is that he is frozen in place even after the Alpha pulls away. He stays like that, both unable and unwilling to move until the door to the room has been shut and he can hear the footsteps move further into the apartment and away from him.

It takes a few minutes for Cloud’s breathing to even out again as his thoughts keep jumping from one conclusion to another.

One important question remains above the rest: Who was that Alpha?

Curiosity getting the better of him, Cloud carefully untangles himself from his blanket cocoon, and wrapping one blanket around himself, he navigates through the haphazardly placed piles of clothes on the floor to reach the door. 

His hand reaches for the doorknob when he suddenly realizes that he can just manage to hear low voices through the door.

He can tell that one voice belongs to Zack. The other is deeper, and smoother, its owner unknown. Something about the mystery voice sends a chill down Cloud’s spine. There is something familiar about that voice, but Cloud cannot place it.

As much as he would like to confront this other voice that he can hear speaking with Zack, he decides instead to stay in the room and to listen in on the other two. Should a good opportunity present itself, he can always come out later, but for now he wants to learn what he can before doing anything too hasty.

There is a long stretch of quiet now and Cloud reaches once more for the doorknob, thinking that something important must be going on that he is not aware of.

However, as soon as he touches the doorknob the hushed voices start again.

Much of what they are saying does not make any sense, but he feels that for some reason they are talking about him, yet unless he missed something, Zack never deliberately said anything about him during this entire conversation. While it is possible that Zack had discussed information about him with this other Alpha, either now or in the past, it seems unlikely given the circumstances.

But at the same time, he knows that no matter what, Zack would never willingly go against his word.

Or at least the Zack he knows never would. Zack Fair might be another story depending on the situation.

Cloud knows that he is overthinking things, but his worries still nag at the back of his mind.

He hears an alarm go off in the other room.

He waits to determine what the two people on the other side will do. When he hears the stranger move to leave he nearly pulls open the door then, but something stops him.

Instead, he waits for a couple of minutes after hearing the door to the apartment open and close before finally pulling the bedroom door open.

Cloud tries his best to appear like he just woke up and not like he has been awake for a while and eavesdropping.

He shuffles over to the spacious kitchen, and sees Zack standing in the middle, lost in thought and not paying attention to anything in particular.

He approaches the Alpha and snaps his fingers under Zack’s nose.

The Alpha jerks back and tries to give Cloud an annoyed scowl.

“Now what was that for?” Zack takes a moment to take in the fact that Cloud looks like he is still half asleep, is tightly wrapped in a blanket shawl, and is standing like this in his kitchen.

Cloud tries not to laugh at the silly grin that is slowly spreading across Zack’s face. “You seemed lost in thought. What’s up?”

The grin fades faster than it had come. “Nothing you need to worry about Spike. Just some issues a friend of mine is having that I can’t help them with, even if I wanted to.

“Which friend?” Cloud tries to make it seem like an honestly curious question, and not as desperate as it really is.

“Technically you’ve already met them, but it was only for a few seconds, and then you passed out.” Zack sees Cloud prompting him to continue. “It was that day at the Gifted school. I was there with Sephiroth when we found you.”

Cloud struggles to control his reaction at finding out that the most famous and elite Gifted known throughout this section of the world, had seen him in such a pitiful state. It takes a moment for it to sink in, and he asks a question he already knows the answer to, but hesitantly wants confirmed nonetheless. “So what you’re saying is that that person who just left, was THE Sephiroth?” He can hear his voice becoming higher with each word, and it annoys him.

Zack’s grin threatens to return. “Yes it was. Why? Do you have some kind of fangirl crush I should know about? You do, don’t you?”

Cloud can feel his cheeks heat up. “Of course not! It’s just a lot to take in. I guess I never figured that you would know someone as legendary as the Great Sephiroth.”

Zack gives a pout. “You wound me. You’ve known how famous I am for how long? And yet you didn’t even think about whom I might know simply because of that status? Not to mention that we all work for the same company doing roughly the same job and interact frequently as a result? Just who did you think the Great Zack Fair was spending all his free time with?”

Cloud’s blush darkens and he turns away from Zack. “I know all of that! I guess I just didn’t really think about it. It seems simple when you put it like that.”

Zack walks over and ruffles Cloud’s spikes. “Don’t worry. Seph is really just a confused child most of the time. Smartest person I’ve ever met, but still kind of a child.” Cloud looks up, slightly confused by what Zack is saying. Taking the hint Zack continues, “See Sephiroth has supposedly been a Gifted since birth and as a result has spent most of his life in Shinra. It wasn’t until he was about seven that he ever met other kids, and when he did they were Angeal and Genesis who were already Gifted by that time. I hear that they didn’t get along too well at first, but eventually the three of them were able to put aside their differences, stop fighting all the time, and have been friends ever since.” Zack looks away, lost in thought again for a moment, the rest of his words coming out as a whisper. “Probably the only reason they are as sane as they are now. Not enough interactions with normal people and its easy to lose sight of what reality really is out there.”

When Cloud looks back at Zack, the Alpha quickly puts a grin back on his face. “Enough of all this serious talk, someone in your condition doesn’t need to be worrying about things like that.” He lightly grabs Cloud’s shoulders and looks him up and down again. “What you need now is to either go back to sleep or go sit on the couch while I make you something to eat.”

Cloud sighs. “I can take care of myself you know. Thanks to your care I feel much better. I can take care of the cooking for once and believe it or not, its not going to kill me.” Cloud can see that Zack is about to protest. “Besides, I’m a much better cook than you.”

Zack raises his hands in defeat. “You got me there. How about this? You go make yourself comfortable in the living room while I order us some take out. The good kind mind you, not the stuff you usually pick out that is just begging to give someone food poisoning.”

Cloud nod his head, knowing it was a losing argument from the start, but at least a good compromise came out of it that both of them are satisfied with.

As Zack heads further in the kitchen to find old takeout menus to pick from, Cloud wanders over to the large leather couch that takes up much of the space in the living room. Once he is settled into a position where he thinks he is the least likely to be swallowed up by the couch, he lets his thoughts connect all of the new information he obtained from Zack.

One: Sephiroth was present the day he was attacked at the Gifted school.

Two: Sephiroth was in Zack’s apartment just now, which means that he was the one to scent him.

Three: It is widely known that Sephiroth has the Gift of telepathy. Meaning that Sephiroth must have been fully aware that he was awake and how he was responding to Sephiroth’s actions, his thoughts on display for the older Alpha to see.

Cloud felt like he could be swallowed up by couch in that moment and would be grateful for it.

However it seems that the universe does not want him to have a moment to himself to wallow in his self-mortification. Zack bounds over and practically jumps onto the opposite end of the couch and starts channel surfing.

“I figured you probably wouldn’t want anything too unfamiliar, so I ordered a couple of breakfast platters to be delivered from Seventh Heaven. They should be here in about half an hour. I also told the server to leave a note for Tifa, to let her know not to worry about you” Zack looks pleased with himself and continues flipping channels.

Thinking about Seventh Heaven and Tifa reminds Cloud of some things he does not want to add to his piles of dilemmas and obstacles for the day. 

He really does need to set everything in order so that he can leave. And soon.

There are things he need to get rid of, supplies to be bought, and of course, people that he needs to thank and to say goodbye to.

He is distracted from his thoughts when a loud buzzing sound fills the apartment.

Zack springs up from the couch and runs back into the kitchen. He returns second later, wallet in hand as he heads for the front door.

“Just give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll be back with the food.”

Cloud nods and watches as the raven dashes out the apartment, the door slamming shut behind him.

Knowing that he does not have much time to do what he needs to, Cloud struggles out of the couch and hurries back to the bedroom as fast as his aching sides will allow. Once there he begins to dig through the small pile his of belongings that were placed near the foot of the bed.

It takes a moment for him to find what he is looking for, but soon he pulls out an old PHS and dials a familiar number.

“Red’s Everything for Anyone with Gil. We’re kind of busy at the moment. Please leave your message after the beep. BEEEEEEEP!” The voice is pleasant but cocky.

Cloud rolls his eyes. “Cut the crap Reno I need a rush order.”

The other end of the line is silent for a moment. “You ok kid? You just placed an order last week; there is no way you should need anymore already unless you took the whole bottle. And if you did that, you probably would be dead or at least in a coma. Seeing as you’re speaking to me, I’m going to assume that you are alive and in a bad situation.”

“That is none of your business and you know it. Now, can you do a rush job or not?”

“Fine, fine. I might be able to work something out last minute, but you know that this is going to cost you.” Reno’s tone is more business like, but still holding an edge of not caring.

“I need at least enough for a month, two if you can manage it.”

There is a low whistle from the other end. “You’re asking for more than I think I can get. Just why would you need so much? You know that it doesn’t work as well the longer it sits.”

Cloud practically growls. “I know that! Look something came up and I’ll be leaving Midgar for quite a while and I just need some to take with me, just as a precaution. I don’t know exactly how long I’ll be gone, but I know that the normal amount won’t be nearly enough.”

“You don’t need to get snippy with me Blondie.” There is a harsh sigh. “Look I’ll see what I can do, but no promises, alright? When do you need it by?”

Cloud pauses for a moment, weighing his options. “I’ll be at the normal spot tonight, just after midnight.”

Reno’s wince can practically be heard through the PHS. “Wow you are really trying to test my abilities aren’t you? Fine. I’ll get what I can for you, but you have to understand that it probably won’t be all of what you want.”

“Just get what you can, that’s all that matters.”

Cloud cuts the call and drops the device onto the bed.

He knows that he should really give himself another day to heal, but he knows that he cannot afford to. 

He knows that if he waits for Zack to go to sleep and leaves then, it will be easier to make a clean break than if he tried to leave while the raven could still plead for him to stay and give him the sad puppy eyes that would probably work, like always.

If he leaves tonight, he should be able to finish what he needs to before the sun rises, and he can be out of the city before the morning traffic has had a chance to die down.

Simple, clean, and fast. Just the kind of break he knows he needs to make.

Cloud knows that he needs to wait a bit longer before he starts packing the few belongings that he brought with him, lest Zack get any notions of his plans. But it is the waiting that will do more damage to his nerves than anything else.

Sighing to himself, Cloud puts the PHS safely away in his pile on the floor and shuffles back to the couch where he settles in again.

He ignores the television and instead lets his thoughts wander, and they all keep coming back to the uncertainty of Sephiroth.

Cloud is unsure just how much Sephiroth knows about him from their brief encounters, or what he might do with any knowledge he possesses, but after hearing the stories of the great feats that Sephiroth has performed, Cloud knows that he does not want to be on the receiving end of that kind of power. And while Zack might trust him, Cloud knows practically nothing about the other Alpha, other than what he has read in magazines and seen in the news.

The man is an enigma that he should not have come across, but will now have to react to, given the present circumstances.

Cloud is pulled from his thoughts when the front door is slammed open and the overwhelming smell of grease, bacon, and waffles surrounds him.

Instantly his mouth begins to water as Zack brings the food nearer.

A styrofoam container is placed in his waiting hands along with a set of plastic cutlery.

Not waiting for his friend, Cloud opens the container and digs into the tempting food.

Zack chuckles and rustles Cloud’s hair again. “Slow down there, Spike. It’s not going to running off on you anytime soon, I can assure you.”

Cloud looks up, trying to give an annoyed look as half a waffle hangs out of his mouth.

Zack laughs at his attempt. “Just take it easy. You have all the time you need. Eat, heal, and then we can go from there.”

The Alpha slumps into his own end of the couch and begins to dig into his own meal. Little does he know that his words fill Cloud with regret about what will occur later that same day.


	8. Leaving

Chapter 8

Waiting is always the hardest part of any situation.

This is especially true when you are waiting to betray your best friend.

While Cloud does not want this last bit of time spent with Zack to be filled with him being distracted and being inattentive to his friend, he knows that he needs to be thinking things out carefully. Otherwise any slight slip up might alert Zack to his intentions. And he cannot afford any delays at this point.

However, at the same time, he does not want this time that he gets to spend with Zack to end. It has been the first time in a very long time that he has truly felt safe, and like someone really cares about him in a way few others have.

This makes his impending betrayal all the worse for him to plan.

After a night of good food and corny movies, Cloud looks over to the other end of the couch to find Zack sound asleep despite the action on the screen and the surround sound making the apartment practically shake with each sudden noise from the film.

Carefully Cloud untangles himself from his pile of blankets that he has been accumulating throughout the night and pulls himself up off the couch. He tries his best to be silent as he crosses the room over to the bedroom, hoping that maybe the sounds from the movie will cover up his movements. 

He also knows that this is the only time that he will have a back up excuse that Zack might believe if the Alpha wakes up now and questions what he is doing. After all, even Zack would not question someone getting up in the middle of a movie to use the bathroom.

Once inside, he quickly changes clothes into something sturdier and travel worthy before stuffing the rest of his few remaining belongings into a bag that he can attach to his motorcycle. He takes one last look around the messy room to make sure that he is not forgetting anything.

Satisfied that he has packed up everything he had brought with him, Cloud exists the bedroom and reenters the living room. After checking to make sure that he has not missed anything and that Zack has not woken up, he makes his way across the room. Many of his fears are put as ease as he quietly walks past Zack, who has begun to snore softly along with the sounds from the movie that is still playing on the television.

Cloud really does want to say goodbye properly, or at least leave a suitable note for the man who has done so much for him, but he knows all that that would do is delay the inevitable and make it harder for him to leave.

Without looking back again at Zack, he strides across the room, and after quietly unlocking the door, he exits the apartment, shutting the door as quietly as he can behind him, for the last time.

He keeps his shoulders squared and his head high as he walks through the deserted hall towards the elevator. Though he passes no one, he still tries to make it seem like he has been there all along.

The wait for the elevator is shorter than he expected and soon he is enjoying the smooth and nearly silent ride before he leaves this place and its people behind, once and for all.

As the elevator swiftly descends, he notices that he can feel wet spots on his cheeks. He wipes the wetness away with his hand. It is then that Cloud realizes that he is crying.

Knowing this, and knowing that he is finally alone, he lets himself have a moment of weakness as he slumps to the floor.

Cloud cries.

He cries for the ties he has cut to get this far, and for those he will have to cut tonight.

He cries for the friends he has lost along the way, many that he will never see again.

He cries for those who he knows will never let him go, people like Zack who will always be on the lookout for him because they have his best interests at heart.

But most importantly, he cries for each and every person like him, those who will never be safe.

When he feels the elevator begin to slow its descent, he wipes away the remaining tears. He stands firm once more and faces forward, his tears long gone.

The elevator softly pings as it reaches its intended destination.

Cloud tries to keep himself as calm as he can and as unnoticeable as possible as he prepares to cover the short distance from the elevator, through the front door of the building, and out to the parking lot where Zack said he had his motorcycle brought to earlier that day.

The doors slide open and Cloud steps out into the busy happenings of the ground floor. For the most part people ignore him as he passes through the large space, but every so often he can feel stares follow him as he crosses the room.

Cloud feels like he is sticking out like a sore thumb as he tries desperately to calmly cross the crowded room to reach the front door without incident.

By the time that he finally manages to reach the front door, he can feel even more eyes on him. In the edges of his vision he can see an individual begin to make their way towards him through the crowd.

Panic begins to flood Cloud’s senses. However, he fights to maintain his composure, to not let the person know that he has noticed them and their movements. Instead, he simply tries to stay as calm as possible, not quicken his pace, and not flat out run like his instincts are screaming for him to do.

The moment he makes it out of the lobby doors, he quickly scans the parking lot for his motorcycle, hoping that Zack was right, and is pleased to find it so close to the door.

However, he as also noticed that there is now more than one person following him, and those individuals have increased their speed as they walk towards him.

Cloud wastes no time in prepping his bike. In under a minute everything has been stashed away and secured so that he is able to jump on and be on his way.

The pursuers from the lobby do not follow him any further.

Feeling like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders, Cloud decides to take a well-remembered and frequently traveled path to one of the more shady slums in the city. It is here where he will finish his first order of business for the evening.

The resulting vibrations from the engine make Cloud’s sides ache like the bones are about to break all over again. He grits his teeth and forces himself to work through the pain, knowing that he needs to be strong in order to not fall prey to the area of the city he has business in.

The drive manages to put Cloud’s mind at ease somewhat. This is a familiar trip, to a familiar place, to meet up with a somewhat familiar person. There is very little out of the ordinary for this venture.

Despite his desire to let his memory make him believe that this is the exact same trip he has taken countless times in the last few years, he knows that it will not be the same. The situation is vastly different so he will have to handle it with a different type of caution than normal.

Before he even realizes just how far and how long he has been traveling, he has arrived at the first point of his intended destinations.

He carefully and painfully dismounts his bike and parks it behind a tall brick building, the shadows hiding it from the harsh neon lights that advertise the dirty reality of the business.

Cloud crosses the street and leaves the glowing building behind him. He walks for a block, the streets full of people in all states of drunkenness. Many he passes are freely walking around with little to no clothing, some approaching him and offering their services for the night.

Cloud ignores them all or sends them away with a short apology.

He continues on the short path before finally approaching a figure that is crouching behind a pile of half filled crates. 

The man is clothed in what might have once been a business suit, but is now no more than messy and torn clothes for a man who seems to probably not have bathed in a few days. His red hair is what makes him stand out against the dark backdrop of the area.

Cloud can tell that the man is not paying attention to him, but rather is more intent on the hushed, but seemingly strained conversation that he is having on his PHS at that moment. Cloud leans against the dirty wall, waiting until the redheaded beta is done with his conversation, knowing that interrupting will get him nowhere.

After a few tense moments of strained hushed whispers, Cloud can hear a PHS being snapped shut and he pushes himself away from the wall. He impatiently waits for the other man to acknowledge his presence.

The redhead seems to grumble to himself for a while before he finally turns around. Upon seeing Cloud standing there, the man practically jumps out of his skin, his eyes blinking rapidly with a look of guilt in them.

“Blondie, you just can’t sneak up on people like that. People might get the wrong impression, might think that you’re trying to give them a heart attack or something.”

Cloud merely raises an eyebrow at the antics. “You knew that I was coming. Why should my being here now surprise you of all people, Reno?”

Reno merely smiles in a way that tells Cloud nothing about his true intentions. “Still, you shouldn’t be sneaking up on people like that.” When he fails to get more of a rise out of Cloud, he abruptly switches to business mode. “So, why do you need so much of this stuff again? You do know what this stuff can do to you if you use it wrong, don’t you?”

Cloud tries not to grit his teeth, this is taking much longer than he would like. “Of course I know the risks. But I need it because I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone. Its better to be safe than sorry.”

“Where could you possibly be going for two months where you can’t find more of this stuff? I mean, usually all you have to do is ask around, even in a place like Rocket Town you can always find a dealer or two willing to sell with no questions asked.” 

Reno turns back around and begins digging in one of the crates. After finding what he needs, he turns around with one seemingly ordinary prescription bottle in his hand.

“Now I couldn’t get enough for two months like you wanted, but I was able to scrape up enough for just over a month. You want more than that, then you’ll have to go somewhere else, but I can guarantee that no one else has this same stuff.”

Cloud swipes the bottle and hides it in his pants pocket before the redhead can protest. “That, like always, is none of your concern, Reno.” He places a few wadded up Gil notes in the dealer’s hand. “This should be enough to cover the rush order, considering you couldn’t get all of it.”

As he turns to leave, a hand on his shoulder stops him. “Why are you doing this? You seem like a pretty decent kid, so why do you put yourself through all of this?”

Cloud stops and looks him dead in the eye. “Because I have to. Doing what you do, and living where you do, you should know that better than most, Reno.”

Cloud shakes the hand off his shoulder and leaves without turning back this time.

For as much as Cloud has had to place some trust with the dealer, he knows that one lost customer will not impact his overall operation. Besides, Cloud knows that the redhead plays to more than one group of people, and one day those different people will find out and everything around him will be torn apart. Cloud does not want to stick around to see that first hand.

Finding his motorcycle again, completely untouched an in the same place, Cloud carefully navigates the dirty streets and rides into a slightly more hospitable part of the city. Here people mostly wandered the streets hoping to make it home before they collapse from the labors of the day. 

This time he parks in a familiar, and better-lit spot before he makes his way behind one of the busiest establishments in the neighborhood. He is not even inside but he can already hear loud laughter the sound of many pounding feet behind the back door.

He opens the back door, not even caring about the squeaking hinges that might alert people to his presence.

He makes it just far enough inside for him to be able to shut the door and then he suddenly feels arms wrapped around him, squeezing the life out of him.

“Hi Tifa.” He managed to wheeze out between his lack of oxygen and the added pressure on his ribs.

The beta grudgingly releases him. “I was worried that you wouldn’t say goodbye this time.”

Cloud gives a sad smile. “I have some unfinished business this time, but I can’t stay too long.”

“Same old Cloud, that’s for sure.” Tifa steps back. “Zack called, he said that you were in an accident again. What really happened this time?”

Cloud snorts. “Nothing you need to worry about. Just some crazy teenagers with too many hormones and pheromones fighting for domination.”

“Cloud!” Tifa gasps. “Are you sure you’re ok? Those kind things never end well for anyone who is unlucky enough to get caught in the middle.” She starts yanking on his shirt. “Let me see the damage, you know I’m better at medical stuff that Zack could ever hope to be.” Cloud evades her and forces her to take a step back.

“You don’t need to worry. I’ve had worse.” He can see the disbelief in her eyes. “I did get hit by a truck once. Remember that?”

“Yes I do, Cloud. And if memory serves me right, you were stupid enough to ignore your injuries until we nearly had to take you to a hospital! And you know what I also heard from Zack, that he just brought you home from the hospital!” She whacks the back of his head. “Just what were you thinking? You don’t have to stay through every fight, sometimes its ok to run away!”

Cloud looks away, knowing that Tifa is right. “Just because I know that, that doesn’t make it any easier to turn tail like a coward.”

“Keeping yourself safe in a situation like that does not make you a coward. It makes you a survivor.”

Cloud remains silent, and the arms wrap around him again, but this time they are gentler. “Next time, think of everyone else before you do something stupid. Ok? Denzel was really looking forward to learning to do mechanical stuff with you. And now you’re going to make him wait for a very long time.” She pauses. “And you have other friends now, they’ll miss you too.”

“I know.” Cloud sighs and turns around, the arms reluctantly releasing him. He digs in a pocket for a moment before handing a small box over to Tifa. “At least this time I’m going to try to do something for those I’m leaving behind. Inside is enough Gil to cover the rent for Denzel’s apartment so that he doesn’t have to move back here and get those headaches again. There’s also the key to my old apartment. When you have time, you should go in and see what is useable and what should just be left behind.”

“Cloud –“ 

He turns and heads towards the door, his hand on the handle. “I know it isn’t much, but that’s all I can give this time. I’m sorry for all of the trouble I’ve caused you.”

He opens the door and steps outside.

A sharp smack on his butt makes him stumble and turn around.

Tifa is leaning on the doorframe. “Don’t be a stranger when you come back. Give us a call, I’ll make sure that you get the best seat in the house.”

Cloud gives a nod before turning and leaving the noisy bar behind.

Once again he prepares his motorcycle to leave. All of his remaining belongings are stored in simple compartments on the back and on the sides of the bike.

He starts the engine once more, ignoring how the pain in his ribs flares up even worse now, and begins to cruise down the street.

In just a few minutes he is on the highway and on his way out of Midgar. He has one of the few vehicles already on the road at this early hour.

Soon he can feel the faint heat against his skin from the rising sun.

As he finally passes the city limits he feels conflicted.

On one hand he feels that he has done the right thing by leaving things as he did. And for that he feels content.

But on the other hand, he feels like something is trying to call him back to the city. Like there is still some unfinished business he has forgotten to take care of.

He mentally shrugs to himself.

If he really has forgotten something truly important, then it will always catch up with him.


	9. Omegas

Chapter 9

It has been several days since his last encounter with Cloud, and Sephiroth has not been able to get ahold of Reno for any information he may have obtained so far. The lack of contact is somewhat expected as Sephiroth knows the nature of the beta’s normal career, but that also means that he knows that he could be waiting for a much longer period of time than he would like before he can get any new information about the mysterious omega.

To try to ease his mind from its rampant thoughts, Sephiroth has taken to finding out some basic information himself, starting with the nature of omegas. A topic that until recently, he has had no reason to be interested in, other than knowing the basics of interactions between the dynamics.

For this a simple search of the internet has provided more material, both relevant and not, about the topic than one can digest in a simple scanning. Everything from proper diets and health care pops up alongside articles and advertisements for special ointments guaranteed to increase sex drive during pregnancy and heat.

The only factor that Sephiroth observes to be consistent and reinforced is that omegas are the only dynamic who cannot become Gifted.

One unfortunate factor remains constant through much of this, most of the results seem to indicate that omegas are considered to be less than other dynamics and are often viewed to be more as pets or children in many respects. Few results show even a hint of what they are capable of physically and mentally.

From what he has seen of Zack’s memories, Sephiroth knows that Cloud is nothing like what these articles would lead him to believe. Cloud seems to be competent and a hard worker who can do just as much as other dynamics, and it is merely his physiology that sets him apart.

With those facts reconfirmed to himself, Sephiroth decides to take another approach when looking for information on omegas. While the new results are fewer and even more inconsistent, psychological reports and studies yield information that is more similar to what Sephiroth has already observed.

Those findings indicate that in older history, omegas were naturally drawn towards one another and they often viewed each other as extended family. And in more recent history the same holds true, but as their numbers are much smaller than they once were, they tend to hide themselves away from the other dynamics and have become fiercely protective of one another.

Omegas need to have stable bonds in order to have a healthy life. Often close ties to friends, family, and mates are sufficient, but if those bonds are destroyed by means other than death, it can drive them to insanity. The only exception being that if their mate dies, they will most like die soon after from a broken heart.

Reading the histories of the world and how they depict omegas disturbs Sephiroth. Most of history decided that they were a lesser dynamic that only had two purposes: to be a vessel of reproduction, and to be considered spoils of war due to the ability to be better able to carry a child to term.

One of the more interesting things that Sephiroth discovers, is that male omegas used to be highly valued for their strength and abilities that were nearly the same as a beta’s, but with the same ability as their female counterparts to carry children. But at the same time, this also put them at a greater risk as they either put themselves in harms way to protect those they loved, or because they were frequently stolen away from their homes and families. The loss of those close bonds causing them to become mad with loss and grief in a short period of time.

Due to this increased risk, more male omegas died as a result of the lust of power by other dynamics than those who died from battles to protect their homes.

This also caused many rulers of old to believe that male omegas were cursed and a threat to their lands, for the madness of an omega could lead to devastating amounts of destruction, and with the strength of a male omega, that destruction could be much worse. And as a result, many were slaughtered in hopes that other lands would not invade to take something that was not there, and many of their female counterparts were often caught up in the slaughter as well to avoid the destruction.

While these reasons for the resulting slaughters are now viewed as foolish and insane, the fact that nearly a tenth of the world’s population was wiped out due to their nature is something that only time can ever attempt to heal. Now there are fewer than 500 male omegas known world wide, most kept under constant surveillance to learn more about them and to encourage them to have more omega children.

Over time it seems that they have been able to build up a type of resistance to the other dynamics to help insure their survival. The other dynamics now have a much harder time harming them for any unjustified reasons, and they are often viewed as being more attractive as the other dynamics, which also increases their changes of survival.

This is also part of the reason that it is estimated that there could be more in existence, but they choose to remain hidden in order to live as peaceful of lives as they can.

For if they are caught, they are often treated like misbehaving children and are claimed by people in power who wish to flaunt their wealth. The male omegas become a symbol of prestige for their mate, and little else. Because there are more female omegas in existence they are still seen as a symbol of status, but are able to have more lives that allow them to have jobs and go out into the world without as much fear of being caught.

Sephiroth finds himself contemplating what all of this information means more often than he would ever admit. To him it seems that the fools of the past have destroyed the futures of many people. And while he cannot go back to fix any of it, it makes him wary about how to approach Cloud with the information of them being soul mates.

With his newly acquired information, Sephiroth believes that he has a better understanding of why Cloud has said and done the things he has to Zack, and why he chooses to hide his true nature.

But at the same time, it tells him nothing about Cloud himself. It tells him things about the natures of the blonde’s dynamic, but nothing about the blond personally.

He knows that he should just go find the blond and explain everything to him, to prepare him for their future as mates, but at the same time, Sephiroth is at a loss as to how to go about that, especially since he harbors some doubt at Hojo’s words.

With that in mind he decides to call the one person he believes will actually listen to him without judgment or sentimental nonsense, and actually help him figure out what to do and what not to do in this situation.

Picking up his PHS, Sephiroth punches in a familiar number and waits for his friend to pick up on the other end.

His call keeps getting sent to the answering service so he keeps redialing, knowing that that is his best chance of getting ahold of this person.

Finally, the ringing is cut short and a very annoyed voice nearly screams out at him.

“Seph, if you’re calling at a time like this and no one is dying, you will be the one to die when I find you.”

There is a pause of silence on both ends of the call. “Genesis, why do you have Angeal’s phone?”

A low growl resonates from the other end. “Because he’s a bit busy at the moment. Now, either explain what this is all about right now, or let us go back to our anniversary in peace, because believe it or not, some of us do have plans that do not involve getting unwanted calls right now.”

“I can wait until he is available then.”

There is a frustrated growl. “Look, either tell me what this is all about, or so help me Sephiroth!”

Sephiroth contemplates the anger radiating through Genesis’s voice, and decides that the potential anger is worth it. “I need to know when and how the two of you recognized that you were soul mates.”

There is a pause and some low murmuring on the other end. “Why do you need to know something that?”

Sephiroth opens his mouth, but his words fail him. He has no idea how to reiterate what he has been told without sounding obsessed or insane.

“I hope you know that I really hate you right now.”

There is an aggravated sigh on the other end and Sephiroth just manages to hear Genesis whisper “Pull out” to someone on the other end of the call.

Sephiroth tries to ignore some of the other sounds that are picked up on the other end, and soon he hears the tell tale sound of a button being pushed and even more sounds are picked up as the PHS is set to speaker mode.

A deeper voice speaks this time. “This is very unlike you Sephiroth, did something happen that you should tell us about, or are you simply unsure of something?”

Another pause. “I’m not sure.”

Sephrioth can practically hear Angeal praying for patience. “I see, then I guess we can answer your question, but you must understand something my friend, our situation is, unique, compared to most. You must keep that in mind.”

“You must understand that we have known each other since childhood and grew up together. Even after we both became Gifted and left our childhood homes, we were still young enough to not worry or consider what would happen when we discovered our soul mates.”

Genesis cuts in. “I figured it out first. I managed to reach maturity and come into my senses before Angeal, which made me realize just how special he really was. Of course I tired to hide it, I didn’t want him to know. I was also worried that he wouldn’t be my soul mate. It is possible you know, for one person to be the soul mate of another, but the other to belong to someone completely different. A never ending tragedy of twisted emotions.”

“Thankfully that did not happen.” Angeal’s voice rumbles with an edge of possession. “I matured very shortly after Genesis, and realized what I was feeling almost immediately. It took us both a while to finally come clean about our feelings, and by then half of the science department was at their wits end trying to figure out why our results had been so inconsistent for those months of hiding secrets. The rest of the story is what you see today.”

“But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows mind you.” Genesis reminds in a scolding tone. “Two Alphas competing for dominance in a relationship never is. Some days are better than others, and some days we just have to learn to give in to the other to keep the peace.”

There is another pause and Sephiroth can practically see the affection radiating between the two, a sight he is all too familiar with.

Angeal clears his throat. “What makes you ask, Sephiroth? You know that you could always ask Zack the same question and he might be able to give you a better answer, considering the nature of his relationship.”

“I’m pretty sure that if I asked your puppy something like this right now, he would throw me out.”

“ . . . What happened between you two? We’ve only been gone a few days, so this has to be a recent development.”

“I’ve got it!” Genesis practically shouts. “You met one of Zack’s friends didn’t you? And now you’re starting to obsess over them and you don’t know why, so naturally you’re worried about the whole, ‘Gifted have soul mates’ thing.”

Another pause.

“I’ll take that as a yes. So tell me, who is it?” Genesis’s voice becomes teasing. “Is it one of the secretaries he has been flirting with? Or maybe one of the lower ranked SOLIDERS that he likes to hang out with. Or Gaia save us, please tell me its not one of those annoying Turks that he goes on missions with!”

“You don’t have to worry about that, I try to avoid most of those people if at all possible.”

“Wait, wait. You started working at that uppity Gifted school recently. Is it one of your students? How scandalous would that be!” Genesis is practically rolling with laughter by this point.

“Sephiroth, I do believe that if Zack were aware of this he would have contacted us to share the news. Unless he either does not know about the situation or does not want to accept it.” Angeal is much more serious about this. “You met someone that Zack knows that we haven’t met, and I’m guessing you haven’t told Zack yet. Tell me, when did you first notice something different around this person? What did you do about it?”

“I didn’t realize that anything was off at first. We were at the school and noticed some of the alpha students in a group fighting a single individual. We went to intervene, and for some reason I accidently used my Voice to get them to stop. It worked, but is also make their victim fall unconscious. Zack seemed to know him and rushed him away from the scene.”

Angeal hums for a moment. “That is very unlike you, Sephiroth. Usually you are one of the most controlled people I know in situations like that. What do you think made you use your Voice like that?”

“I don’t know. It happened without my acknowledging it. After Zack left and I managed to get the school authorities to take care of the offenders, but I felt the need to find the blond victim. I felt this unreasonable urge to strike back at his attackers and at Zack.” He pauses. “But that is my own shortcoming and an automatic response to his dynamic, it means nothing.”

“What do you mean a response to his dynamic? There seems to be an important missing piece here.”

“The boy that was attacked is an omega.”

There is a heavy pause as that piece of information settles in. It is Genesis that breaks the silence. “That makes no sense. Why would a group of alphas attack an omega? That goes against their instincts. And why was he there in the first place? Omegas cannot become Gifted. And more importantly, how does Zack of all people know a male omega?”

“There was something off about him. He did not seem like an omega at the time, and it smelled like a sickness was clinking to him. It wasn’t until I found him in Zack’s apartment and he smelled better that I realized that something was wrong with him the first time.”

“Hold on! This just keeps getting more interesting by the second. Dramas could be written about this! What do you mean you found him in Zack’s apartment? I thought that Zack had a soul mate. Does this mean that he was cheating on her or using this omega to try to cover his connection to her?”

“Genesis, I highly doubt it is anything like what you’re thinking, or wishing it would be.” Sephiroth can practically hear Genesis pout. “It seemed like the omega was injured and Zack had brought him back to his apartment, I assume to allow him to heal.”

“What do you mean, you assume? Did you not ask him why he was there?”

“I – No, no I did not. He appeared to be sleeping and I did not want to wake him.”

“Hold on. Let me get this straight. You went to Zack’s apartment and found an omega asleep there who you were feeling instincts towards and you did nothing?” Genesis is nearly yelling in the phone. “You must have done something! Something would be wrong with you if you didn’t. WHAT DID YOU DO?”

Sephiroth is shocked by Genesis’s reaction to all of this, but chooses to remain silent about his actions.

There is some shifting on the other end of the call and Angeal seems to be trying to calm Genesis down.

Sephiroth, thinking that he will not be heard, mumbles, “I scented him.”

The movement stops. “You did what?”

Angeal lets out a long sigh. “Please tell me you didn’t actually do that. Scenting an omega without their permission is not only incredibly rude, but is viewed as an act of possession and dominance against them. Those I have met do not trust many people as it is, to do something like that will only set him against you.”

Guilt settles in Sephiroth’s chest. Part of him regrets his actions even more than before, and another part of him is immensely glad that Cloud had been asleep and would not know what he did.

“Sephiroth.” Angeal disrupts his thoughts. “How much do you know about omegas?”

“I have been researching the dynamic and I have Zack’s memories to aid in filling in some of the missing pieces.”

“Book knowledge and some memories are a start, but what do you know about them personally? What personal experiences do you have with that dynamic? How much do you really know about this particular omega, besides what you have seen in Zack’s memories?”

Sephiroth remains silent, unable to dispute Angeal’s logic as it is parallel to his own.

There is another long sigh. “This is very unlike you. It seems to me that this is a recent development, but knowing you, you would choose to ignore this is possible. What is the real reason that you called?”

“I – I did not want to believe what Hojo said. That my results were the same as you two when you discovered that you were each other’s soul mate. I wanted to hear that he was wrong.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this.” Genesis seems a bit deflated. “But for once, the creepy scientist might be right, and it might actually be a good thing. You have a chance to be with your other half. You just have to go after them and let them know!”

“Gen, it probably won’t be that easy. We might be able to tell who our soul mate is, but it works differently for normal people, and omegas are an entirely different story. They are able to get a sense of who would make a suitable mate and are excellent judges of character, so that makes it more likely that this omega will listen to what Sephiroth has to say. However, it was also mentioned that a scent was clinging to him like a sickness, which probably means that he has been taking suppressants, which is unfortunately not uncommon. That means that he is trying to fight his instincts and damaging some of his internal systems as a result. This will most likely put him on edge, he will be more on guard, and less likely to listen to what Sephiroth have to say. Especially if this whole mess is not explained well.”

“So what do you suggest I do? I can’t exactly waltz up to him, sweep him off his feet, and expect this all to just blow over.”

“That is mostly up to you, but I do suggest arranging to meet this omega in a neutral place, and probably through Zack so that there is a sense of security, and just take your time and explain this all as best as you can. But most importantly you need to be very patient about this. For many, they cannot really understand the concept of a soul mate like we can. Do you think that you can do that?”

Sephiroth takes a deep breath, knowing that this is going to be far more difficult than he initially believed it would be. “I can try.”

There are more shuffling sounds in the back and a few distracted groans from both Angeal and Genesis.

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse us, Gen and I have some unfinished business and you have a date to arrange.”

There is another beep and the call is abruptly cut off.

Sephiroth sets his PHS down carefully, knowing that he pushed his luck too far and that he will not be getting any more suggestions out of those two any time soon. His mind is racing as to what to do with all of this new information and all of the presented suggestions.

He admits to himself that he is at a loss as to what to do in this situation, especially when he has so little information about the one that is his soul mate.

He knows where he should start, but he also knows that that line of action will lead to more headaches than he wants to deal with right now. But it is the best bet he has at the moment.

He slowly makes his way out of his apartment and takes the stairs down two flights, giving himself extra time to think and prepare what he wants to say in the way that will reflect the best on his actions.

Before he knows it, he is standing before a familiar door and softly knocks, a small part of him hoping that the occupant will not be home and that he will be able to leave without a confrontation, but also knowing that despite his wishes they are home.

The door flies open and large violet eyes look around the hall behind him in expectation. Seeing Sephiroth instead of whatever it was that he was searching for, the raven moves aside and gestures for Sephiroth to enter the apartment.

The door is shut and the smaller Alpha turns to him. “You seem really off today. Why are you here?”

Sephiroth discovers that he cannot look the raven in the eye to give the speech he had prepared on the way there. Instead he mumbles at the surprisingly clean floor. “I need to know if you can set up a time for me to meet with Cloud.”

Zack looks at the older Alpha in shock. “Last time the two of you were anywhere near each other, you were scenting him as he slept! You think that after that, I’m ok with letting you be alone near him? Of course I’m not! Let alone that you are one of the most famous people in all of Midgar and if the two of you are seen together it will make things worse for him. I thought you understood all of that!”

“Zack, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

Zack is livid. “How could this possibly be so important that you would put him at risk like that?”

Sephiroth grits his teeth. “He is already in danger because of me, and I need to stop it before it gets worse.”

“I really want to believe that you didn’t do it on purpose, but why would he be in danger because of you.”

Sephiroth sighs and looks Zack in the eye. “Because he is my soul mate.”


	10. Ideas

Chapter 10

Sephiroth sighs and looks Zack in the eye. “Because he is my soul mate.”

“. . . Wa – What did you just say?” Zack’s voice is full of pain and disbelief, there is also and edge of anger that seems to dare Sephiroth to say something against what he thinks he just heard.

“I think I made myself quiet clear, Zack. Your friend Cloud is my soul mate.”

Unsteady laughter fills the room. “You can’t be serious. Cloud? Your soul mate? Don’t be ridiculous!”

“I fail to see where you find this situation humorous.” Sephiroth struggles to keep his composure as the other Alpha continues to shrug him off and put down everything he has to say. “There are things that happen in our lives that we have no control over, you know that just as well as I do. What about Aerith? Surely your feelings for her should help you take this situation more seriously.”

“LEAVE AERITH OUT OF THIS!” Zack is beginning to radiate anger, his Voice seeping into his words. “What would YOU know about any of THAT! You don’t even fully understand what emotions even are or what it means when other people experience them! You’ve only fooled yourself into believing that you have found your soul mate, but you haven’t!

“You’re confused and jealous is all. I can understand that. At first it was Genesis and Angeal, but then I found my soul mate as well. You’re the only one left right now. I can understand why you might delude yourself into thinking that you found your soul mate because you want to have that feeling of being complete. 

“But you soul mate is NOT and CAN NOT be Cloud.”

“Zack, I think you need to calm down.” Sephiroth beings to struggle to control his instincts to fight back against Zack and defend his soul mate, to fight against the instinct to reconfirm his dominance to the younger Alpha.

“I need to calm down? What about you? You just decide to pull this out of nowhere and assume that I’ll go along with it? Why did you think trying to pull something like this is ok? Because this is not funny Sephiroth, its just insulting.”

Zack continues to shout and yell at Sephiroth, and Sephiroth does his best to ignore it but rather try to figure out where this erratic behavior is coming from. This is not something the typical Zack would ever engage in.

The apartment is clean and everything is in a neat and orderly place. The TV is off and there is nothing else in the apartment to make the ever-present background noise. The trash in the living room is filled with wrappers and packages from take-out and fast food places.

He deduces that Zack is trying to hide something, which is pushing his stress limits past a safe point. And now that Sephiroth has arrived and asking certain questions, he has been given a way to vent the pent up frustration. 

Sephiroth looks around the apartment again, not even pretending to pay attention to the raven anymore, going as far as to throw up his own mental barriers in an attempt to try to block the barrage of thoughts screaming at him too. He figures that he must be missing something. Something that is the missing piece that is sending Zack off like this.

He closes his eyes and lets his senses take over to pinpoint the missing aspect.

It takes him a moment to sort through everything, but finally he finds what is missing.

“Where is Cloud?”

Zack stops his ramblings, his face bright red. “What?”

Sephiroth resists the urge to grit his teeth in annoyance. “Where. Is. Cloud? He is no longer here, is he? And you seem to have made sure to scrub his scent from this place. So I’ll ask you again. Where is Cloud?”

Zack takes an involuntary step back. “How would you know Cloud’s scent? You’ve only encountered him twice.”

“I scented him when I found him sleeping in your bed.”

“YOU WHAT?!”

Sephiroth ignores this outburst. “At first I wasn’t sure why I was so drawn to him, but now I do and his scent is ingrained in my memory.” He pauses, feeling a headache coming on. “Now answer my question.”

“You can’t expect me to actually answer that, do you? After what you just admitted to doing, and in my home nonetheless! If Cloud knew you did that, he probably would have taken it out on me and would have left even sooner!” Zack is exasperated at this point and slumps to the ground.

“What do you mean ‘sooner’? When did he leave?” A sense of panic grips Sephiroth. If Cloud has left, then even his haphazardly put together plan of introducing himself to the omega will be of no use to him. Not only that, but the more time since Cloud has left, the further away he could have gone, making it much more difficult for Sephiroth to find him again.

Zack lets out a frustrated growl. “He left the same day you came by and found him here. As much as I didn’t want him to go, I knew that there was nothing I could do to get him to stay. I heard him get up and leave, and that’s that.”

“And you didn’t try to stop him?” Sephiroth can hear the growl in his own voice. Though he senses that Zack is ultimately going to give up on this fight, he personally does not want it to keep dragging on.

“Like I said, it wouldn’t have done any good. He already told me that he was leaving, but something must have pushed him over the edge to leave sooner. He didn’t even stay to let himself heal completely yet.” He gives Sephiroth a suspicious glance. 

So the omega is injured and off on his own because Zack would not stop him. Sephiroth is finding it very difficult not to strangle the other Alpha. “Where is he going?”

“Wait – What? Why do you want to know that?”

Sephiroth tries not to sigh in frustration. “Because he is my soul mate. I need to find him and bring him back.”

Zack growls again. “He left for his own reasons, do you honestly think that he would follow you back here, just like that?”

“Well no, I just figured –“

“You figured what? That you would explain to him that you believe that he is your soul mate and that he should just believe you and follow you back on the off chance that you are right?”

“No, I know that is not what will happen, but I don’t know what will until I see him again.” He leans over Zack. “And I have a feeling that you know where he’s gone.”

Zack gulps. “I don’t actually, I never asked and it was none of my business.”

Sephiroth eyes him coolly. “But you do have an idea of where he might have gone. There is no use trying to hide it from me.” He lowers himself towards Zack and consciously uses his Voice. “Now, tell me where you think he went.”

Zack’s eyes dilate for a moment before returning to their normal size. “Last I knew he stopped somewhere around Rocket Town, but that was over a week ago, I don’t know anymore than that.”

“And how do you know that much?”

Zack tries to fight the urge to answer, but he knows that it is a loosing battle. “His bike – I – I put a tracking device on his motorcycle. I was worried, so I decided to try to keep tabs on him. But it hasn’t moved in a while, so I think he left it somewhere before moving on.”

Sephiroth ponders this for a moment. This matter is becoming more and more complicated. And he knows that if he keeps using his Voice on Zack, the other Alpha will soon snap and the two of them will get in a physical confrontation. But at the same time he needs more information on the situation before he can go to Cloud.

He rests his gaze on the raven Alpha for a moment longer, before turning away and breaking off the effects of his Voice. Zack falls to the floor, gasping for air like he just ran a marathon.

Sephiroth turns away and leaves Zack sprawled on the floor in the apartment, knowing that when the raven regains his senses, he should be far from the area.

He decides that he will try giving Reno one last call for further information before making a final decision on what to do about finding Cloud.

Once he reaches his apartment and has taken out his personal PHS, and impatiently dials the number, expecting to be left with it ringing again.

To his pleasant surprise, the ringing stops almost immediately.

“General, just the person I was about to call. Sorry about the wait, but its kind of hard to get a connection half way across the world while your boss is breathing down you neck and your mate wants to have personal time while on duty.”

Sephiroth nearly grins to himself despite all of the implications of what Reno just said. “What did you find out?”

Reno sighs. “I’m afraid there’s not much on the guy other than the obvious. He’s about 22 years old, blond hair, blue eyes. Kind of a little guy really. It seems that he has had at least five different fake IDs discovered just in the city of Midgar, though he has never been caught with them. All of them have him marked as a beta, but we both know that isn’t right. Originally from Nibelheim, it seems like he disappeared from his records at the same time as another girl from that town, one Tifa Lockhart. She apparently lives somewhere in Midgar and owns a bar. Nice rack on her too.”

“Reno, what else is there about Cloud?”

“Oh right, that’s really about it. I found out that he was registered at a hospital recently for treatment from an assault, and that one of the staff there figured out that he is an omega and contacted authorities about it, but by the time they showed up, Cloud had already checked out and was last seen with a raven Alpha leaving the premises. After that, what little trail he left has gone cold.”

Sephiroth ponders this limited information for a bit. Most of it he either already knew, or felt that it was irrelevant for his intentions. But he is still left with a few questions. “Would there be any reason for him to head to Rocket Town?”

“Rocket Town? Why do you think that he would go there?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Fine, fine. There are a couple of instances of him being reported as being there, but those were a bit too recent for his pattern of movement. Unless he stopped at the heat house while passing through on his way elsewhere, I can’t help you.”

“A heat house?”

“Yeah, you know. One of those places bigger cities have set aside for omegas to spend their heats uninterrupted if they don’t have a partner. Usually they are run by omegas and sometimes a few betas and alphas who have lost there ability to scent anything or anyone. But I couldn’t tell you more than that. They never keep records of who comes and goes. So unless someone can vouch for seeing him there, that is all I got.”

“I see.”

There is some shuffling and yelling on the other end. “If I might ask, why do you need to know about this guy? Usually if he had done something against Shinra, the Turks would be sent in first, and yet he isn’t flagged in their files and the science department hasn’t requested information on him either.”

“Then let’s keep it that way.” Sephiroth cuts the call before Reno can respond further.

………………………………………………………………………

Despite wracking his brain for hours on end, Sephiroth is out of ideas.

He has very little new information, and no easy way to obtain more. Let alone the fact that while he has a clue to Cloud’s location, he is most likely not there anymore and he has no idea if the blond will return for his motorcycle or not.

He has half a mind just to go to Rocket Town and see if he can gather any information himself and go from there, but he knows that he cannot do that. For one thing Shinra has too tight of a hold on him and would not allow it. On the other hand, it might put Cloud at risk if anyone were to raise suspicion as to why Sephiroth is asking about him.

He wants to leave, despite the fact that he knows that he cannot. If for no other reason than that Hojo is practically encouraging him to go out after his ‘soul mate’ and bring them back so that the creepy scientist can study them and the effects of a ‘soul mate’ on a Gifted.

It has now reached the level of impatience with the scientist where Hojo is threatening that he will find this ‘soul mate’ himself by any means necessary if Sephiroth does not confess as to who it is.

Sephiroth will do everything in his power to prevent that from happening. He will never let Cloud become a plaything for the deranged scientist.

So instead, he feels like he is wasting precious time he could be using to search for the blond omega.

He does what he is told by the company that owns him and tries to avoid Zack as much as possible since their last encounter. Hoping that the raven is smart enough not to start anything, lest anyone become suspicious and look into the matter.

There are words though, spoken by Hojo in a rage, that resonate with Sephiroth during his pondering. “By any means necessary.”

Those words are enough to give Sephiroth a small idea as to what to do to find Cloud, not necessarily a good one, but an idea nonetheless. And the more he contemplates it, the more he believes that it might be his best option until he can find some excuse to get away from Shinra surveillance for a while.

It is a dangerous thing to do, partially because they are considered his rivals and potential enemies in the world they are controlled by, and partially because he is not even supposed to know of their existence.

But at his point, he sees them as his only option.

On a night were he is left to his own devices and has managed to not attract Zack’s attention, he searches his study for a small scrap of paper that was given to him years ago. On that piece of paper is a number, which should lead him to individuals with more freedom to do what they want, and who might just be willing to aid him in his search.

Finding the scrap of paper stuck between the pages of one of his favorites books, he pulls it out and carefully punches the numbers into his PHS.

At first there is silence, and he figures that it must be a disconnected or discontinued number, and given how long ago he obtained it, he would not be surprised. But then it begins to ring.

After three rings the call is answered and while no one voice answers it, he can hear harsh whispers in the background as the PHS is fought over by multiple individuals.

Eventually there is the sound of flesh slapping against flesh and a single voice rings loudly over the line. “We don’t recognize this number. Who is this? What do you want?”

Sephiroth clears his voice, silent regretting this decision. “I believe that you know who I am. Considering a member of your gang was the one to give me this number.”

There is silence for a moment before three voices scream, “BROTHER!” in unison. Loud chatter begins and Sephiroth cannot begin to pick out one voice from the rest.

Suddenly the voices fall short, all except for one. “Mother must surely be smiling on us if you are to be the one calling us. Tell us Brother, have you finally decided to leave that Shinra scum behind and join us instead?”

Sephiroth cannot help but cringe at that. He has heard about these siblings before. Triplets, who are their own gang that both runs and terrorizes several of the lower income areas of Midgar, despite there only being three of them. It is quite possible that Cloud had even been living under their reign before. 

That is why he has decided to call them, despite how badly this might go for everyone involved.

“As much as I would like to, you know that it is impossible to leave by any means other than death once Shinra has claimed you.”

“Pity.” The voice is sad. And for a moment the line is silent again. “So if you are not calling us to announce your freedom Brother, to what do we owe the honor of your call?”

“I need you to find someone for me.”

There is a snarl. “Has someone wronged you, Brother? We will find this person and tear them apart for you, if that is your wish.”

Sephiroth panics. “No, no. Nothing like that. No one needs to get torn apart.”

There is a pause. A new voice answers, cooler and calmer than the one before. “Then who do you need us to find?”

Against his better judgment, Sephiroth replies, “I need you to find the one who is my soul mate.”


	11. Finding Brother's Soul Mate

Chapter 11

They had been waiting for years since their initial, yet brief, interaction, to hear from Brother himself, and not some nobody who would tell them to leave Brother alone or that he does not know of their existence. And now that they finally have made that contact, the triplets are more than overjoyed, if not a bit confused as to the nature of the call.

But the very fact that Brother had contacted them himself is more than enough motivation for them to drop their immediate tasks and head for Rocket Town do as Brother has asked, which in this case is to find his runaway soul mate.

While it is not like anything they had envisioned doing for or with Brother in the past, they know that this is an easy way for them to begin to bridge the gap that has been forced between them. Besides, if Brother really has found his soul mate, then they should get to know him and welcome him into the family.

The trip to Rocket Town is fairly uneventful, but trying to get information from the people in the town proves to be much more difficult than the three had figured it would be, especially with Brother giving them limits on what means they can use to get the information they want, and the fact that none of them have Brother’s ability to read minds. 

It almost seems like Brother is testing them, and that makes them eager to do as he says in order to prove their loyalty and worth to him.

Currently though, they feel like they are running low on options, so they have decided to try to work the situation to their advantage. 

Kadaj and Loz are impatiently waiting in the back corner of a local diner, a half eaten lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup forgotten as the two of them watch the door to the diner closely, waiting for their other brother to return after his two day absence.

The minutes trickle by, but soon enough a figure with long sliver hair slips into the diner and approaches the table, bits of forgotten sandwiches swiped off of plates and hastily shoved into their mouth as they fill a remaining plate with the remaining food.

The two other brothers stare at him for a moment before Kadaj yanks the plate of food away. “So, what did you find out? Was Brother’s soul mate there or not?”

Yazoo shoots him a reproachful look before grabbing more food off of Loz’s plate. “Of course he was. He just left a couple of days ago. Which means that there is still time to eat. Pass me that bowl of soup.”

“A few days ago? Brother told us that his soul mate has been in this area for about a week when he contacted us, so almost two weeks by now. What would make him stay in a place like this for so long?”

Yazoo nods as he swallows a mouth full of water. “That’s what the old beta at the heat house said. She said he showed up looking pretty bad and when she didn’t see him after a week, she found him still in the middle of a heat. She figured he must have been putting it off with suppressants for a while for him to be that sick. But she said about three days ago she went to go check on him again and he was gone.”

“Brother’s soul mate was sick?” Loz seems highly concerned by this particular bit of information.

Kadaj scoffs. “Seems like Brother’s soul mate must not be the smartest thing around. Anyone with half a brain knows that staying on suppressants for any length of time will make the next heat inevitable and even worse than normal the moment they slip up. He did it to himself.”

“Why would Brother’s soul mate make himself sick like that? You wouldn’t make yourself sick like that, would you Yazoo?” The largest of the brothers, pulls his still eating sibling into a crushing hub.

Said sibling makes a disgruntled choking noise. “Can’t. Breath. Loz.”

“Oh, sorry.”

The pressure is released and Yazoo takes in a deep breath while Kadaj snaps. “Of course he wouldn’t. Our brother is smarter than that.”

“Ok, good.” Loz looks down to see that his plate has just a few scattered crumbs left, and he shoots an accusing look at Yazoo.

Kadaj slams a hand on the table. “Focus! We know that Brother’s soul mate left not that long ago which means we still have a chance to catch up to him. But we all know that there is nothing out here for miles in any direction and if we go the wrong way now we might never find him. Now, is there anything, anything at all that might be his destination in this forsaken area?”

The three think quietly for a moment before Loz answers hesitantly. “He might have gone to see the ocean.”

“There are better places to stop at on the way if that’s the case. No, there has to be reason he stopped at this particular dump. A stop on the way to the Golden Saucer perhaps?”

“The graves of Taiyo and Tsuki.”

Two heads of shorter silver hair snap towards Yazoo and Kadaj grins. “Of course! It makes so much sense! Why else would an omega to out of their way to a dump like this? That shrine is only a few days away and a popular spot for omegas to go, especially after a bad heat.” Kadaj smiles like a cat that ate the canary. “This is perfect. You two, go get the bikes ready, I’ll go give Brother the good news. Be ready to leave in five minutes.”

The Alpha brother leaves the table and dashes out of the diner, leaving the other two behind. Yazoo leans back into the padded booth and begins to eat what remains on the table, but at a much slower pace than before. Loz look between him and the door for a moment before finally speaking. “Didn’t brother want us to get ready to leave?”

Yazoo nods, sipping water out of a glass. “He did, but I just got back after hiding out for two days and I want to eat before we leave. Besides, he’s not the boss unless we let him be. So don’t worry about it. We’ll leave with plenty of time to spare.”

“But he’s Alpha!”

Yazoo looks up at his taller brother. “Let me explain something to you. An Alpha may be the head, and the beta is that little voice in the back of your head that reminds you when you are about to do something stupid, but the omega is the neck, which means I can make him do whatever I want.”

Loz opens his mouth to speak, but Yazoo shoots him a warning glace. “Just don’t tell brother that I told you this.” He eases himself out of the booth before facing his larger brother. “Now, let’s go find brother before he starts ranting at people again.”

The giant silently nods and follows his smaller sibling out of the diner. The two do as they were told and make sure that their oversized bikes are ready for the long trip ahead as they wait for their other brother to come back.

In a couple of minutes they see him rounding the building, an extra bounce in his step. “Brother says that we should let him know as soon as we find his soul mate. Then he wants us to keep an eye on him as he makes his way out here himself! Just think of it! In just a few days, we’ll actually get to meet Brother face to face!”

“That is good news.”

Kadaj gets on his bike and calls back to the others. “Looks like we can make it to a place called Nibelheim before the road ends. Let’s do this for Brother!”

………………………………………………………………………………….

They spend the next two days on the road up to Nibelheim, and when they reach the small village they are very unimpressed with it and its inhabitants.

The first thing they do is to secure a room at the local inn for the night so that they can prepare for the trek ahead, the second is to go and question the locals to see if any of them has seen Brother’s soul mate lately, no sense in trekking up a mountain if they do not have to.

As it happened, multiple locals report having seen Cloud a couple of days prior and that he had stayed in the village just long enough to pay respects at the local cemetery before stocking up for the trip up the mountain. They all believe he was foolish to do so as a storm had come through the night after he departed, effectively snowing parts of the main path closed until they could be cleared off later that week.

That means nothing to the three of them, and as the sun begins to rise the next morning, they set up the alternate path the locals have outlined, hoping to make it to the shrine by the end of the day, and if they are lucky they will either run into Cloud as he comes down the mountain, or while he is still there.

It only takes them a couple of hours of hiking in the snow that they all reach the same agreements: they all hate the snow, if they find out that Brother’s soul mate is already gone by the time they reach the shrine something will burn, and that Brother had better appreciate what they are going through for his sake.

Half way through the day their boots are soaked through, and their clothes are starting to feel heavy and cold due to the melting snow they have pushed through and thrown at each other.

At the end of the day, Kadaj has been swearing and screaming up a storm for nearly an hour, and Yazoo has given up and has made Loz carry him in the last few minutes of their hike after lightly spraining his ankle while avoiding a snowball from the giant.

When they finally see lights lighting up the shrine at the end of path, they can’t help but give a sigh of relief and begin to scurry up the rest of the way, full of hopes of drying off and warming up.

However, when the reach the courtyard and are ready to find somewhere to rest for the night, they are instead, met with a very angry blond who stands with his arms crossed and carries the lingering scent of an omega recently out of heat.

“Why are you following me?” The voice is cool and even, but there is an edge to it that dares them to try to lie to him.

Kadaj takes a step forward, putting space between his brothers and this blond. “You’re Cloud Strife, aren’t you? Brother sent us to look for you.”

“Then just who are you, and who is Brother?”

“You know who Brother is. Everyone does. There shouldn’t be a person in this world that hasn’t heard of the mighty Sephiroth.” Kadaj is also starting to get an edge in his voice, taking another step closer to Cloud.

“Sephiroth . . .” Cloud ponders this for a moment. “If you claim that Sephiroth is your bother, than you must be his brothers. Odd to think that the gang known as the Remnants would be related to Sephiroth. Wouldn’t Shinra have wanted you all together?”

Kadaj spat back. “We have nothing to do with those unworthy of what they pretend to own. It is only a matter of time before Brother leaves them for something far greater. And it seems that you will be a part of that.”

“You’re not making any sense. Explain.” Cloud snap back.

“For as unworthy as you are, it seems that you are in fact, Brother’s soul mate. Meaning that the two of you are destined to be each other’s other half.” Kadaj steps closer, venom lacing his words, “You had better not let Brother down.”

Cloud glares back. “I know what a soul mate is to a Gifted. If he truly believes that is what I am to him, then he had better come and explain and prove it himself. I will not believe the words of lemmings over those of the lion.”

“You dare insult us – “

A hand is placed on Kadaj’s shoulder. Yazoo shakes his head. “Not now brother.”

Kadaj growls under his breath. “Fine.” He turns back to his brothers. “Keep and eye on him and get ready for the night. I have something I need to do.”

Seeing his brothers nod, Kadaj wanders back down the mountain path a bit, not far, but just far enough to be reasonably out of hearing rage, even for a Gifted. There, he leans against a tree and pulls out a PHS.

Pressing a button he waits through the ringing, hoping that Brother will be able to answer soon.

It takes a couple of tries, but eventually a quiet voice answers. “What did you find?”

Kadaj smiles and instantly becomes more charismatic. “We did just as you asked Brother. We found your soul mate.”


	12. Convince Me

Chapter 12

Sephiroth has been waiting for what feels like ages to hear those deceptively simple words. While they are not as important as others he wishes to hear someday, they are an important step in the right direction. 

With a brief exchange of information about where the triplets have found Cloud and a reassurance that they will do what they can to keep him there until Sephiroth has arrived, Sephiroth breathes a large sigh of relief.

Reenergized and with a renewed sense of purpose, Sephiroth quickly begins to stuff a small travel bag with the essentials that he will need for such a long journey, as well as a simple box which he stares at for a moment before adding it into the mess. Finally, when he is satisfied with his inefficient packing he grabs his company PHS as he heads out of his apartment, each step filled with determination.

He quickly selects one of the preprogramed contacts and impatiently waits for the ringing to stop. When it does he does not wait for a greeting. “Reno, get the chopper ready for a long trip. I’ll be at the helipad in fifteen minutes.”

He ends the call just as quickly and steadily makes his way across the Shinra compound, ignoring the stares that follow him and the voices that call after him as he nearly runs to his destination. He cannot ignore the thrill that is running through him at the prospect of going to finally see his soul mate, and if all goes well, bring him back home, never to lose him again. His instincts nearly purr with anticipation.

When he finally jogs up the last fight of stares to the helipad, he is greeted by just the sight he wants to see. The only chopper in sight being prepped and fueled up, an annoyed looking pilot is arguing with someone over their PHS, and the doors are open and waiting for him to take a seat behind the distracted pilot.

He climbs in and takes a seat, making sure to put on a headset in hopes that the pilot and copilot might be able to distract him from his own thoughts for the next several hours with actual conversation instead of just their wandering thoughts. With the headset in place, he manages to catch the last few snippets of the argument Reno is having to whomever is on the other end of the call.

“Yeah I know boss, but you should try telling him that! You know how these things go when he has mind set on something, and this time I’m not even sure that even you could stop him if you wanted to, Tseng.”

Silence fills the chopper except for the occasional hushed whisper from Reno and the rotating of the chopper’s blades. Soon Sephiroth is practically laughing at how loud and inappropriate Reno’s thoughts are becoming with whatever is being said by the Turk leader.

Sephiroth looks up when he sees another figure enter the front of the chopper just as the doors are being shut. The dark skinned man wordlessly nods at him before picking up his own headset and going through a pre-takeoff checklist.

After a couple minutes of buttons being pushed and switches being flipped, the silent man grabs the PHS in Reno’s hand and abruptly ends the call, giving the redhead a heated glare in the process and pocketing the device.

The redhead looks over his shoulder. “So where is he?”

“Nibelheim.”

After a successful take off, a quick probing of thoughts makes Sephiroth suddenly regret having Reno be the one to take him to Cloud. He does not know if he can stand to hear the honeymoon stage thoughts of two Gifted who have recently bonded with their soul mates. Especially when both halves of that bond are the ones flying him to his destination.

Instead, he chooses to try to distract himself by trying to prepare what he is going to say to Cloud once he sees the blond omega again and actually gets to speak to him for the first time.

With each elaborate scenario he can think of, there are always two possible outcomes. The favorable outcome being Cloud listening to him and agreeing to come back to him. And of course, the unwanted outcome is always where Cloud refuses to listen or cannot understand what it means to be the soul mate of a Gifted, and refuses to leave with Sephiroth.

To Sephiroth either outcome is just as likely as the other, but there is no point of equilibrium that he can see to help guide the situation into a favorable outcome right away.

Everything relies on Cloud in this situation, and how he will handle all of this information.

……………………………………………………………

By the time the chopper finally begins to descend from its long sustained flight, Sephiroth is completely stiff from maintaining the same position for so long, and he knows more about Reno and his soul mate Rude than he could have possibly ever wanted or needed to know. One of the drawbacks to his Gift, nothing is filtered in people’s thoughts.

However, it has given him some more food for thought when it comes to how to approach Cloud. He can only hope that it all help in swaying the blond to listen to him.

When the chopper lands, Sephiroth makes as quick of an exit as he can despite the pins and needles racing in his legs. With a quick wave to the pilots to let them know that they are free to leave and find somewhere to stay for the oncoming night and somewhere to refuel, Sephiroth finally takes a moment to take in his surroundings, the surroundings that Cloud grew up in.

The air is crisp in his lungs as soft snow falls from the sky and lands in ever increasing mounds on the ground. The clearing he is in gives him an unobstructed view of the both the path leading up the mountain and to the shrine, and the one leading down to the village. From his estimations, he must be in about the middle of the path.

Noting how low the sun is sitting in the sky, he decides to try to hurry up the trail to the shrine ahead instead of taking the night to rest in the inn. He hopes that despite the nearly 24 hours that have past since his conversation with Kadaj, the triplets will have kept their word and Cloud will still be there when he arrives.

Though the path has obviously not been cleared of snow or debris lately, he makes his way up the mountain as swiftly as possible, no longer paying the numbness that has crept into his feet and his hands from the cold.

As the sun is just about to set, he finally emerges into the courtyard of the shrine. He hardly looks at the architecture or the setup, but is rather searching for a hit of the blond that might send him towards his soul mate.

He can hear the thoughts of the triplets rushing through their minds and he finds it a bit odd how while all three are separate, they frequently have the same thoughts, often at the same time, making it seem like there is only one of them. Despite this, he cannot seem to gain any information on Cloud’s whereabouts from their thoughts, just a general direction he has gone in earlier in the day when they had told him that he would be arriving soon.

Deciding to follow this lead, Sephiroth leaves his travel bag in the courtyard and follows a small trail in the snow that goes behind the three buildings that make up the shrine, and back towards the edge of the cliffs that face the village far below.

Once out of the shadows of the buildings, he finds himself momentarily blinded by the setting sun that illuminates the snow with colors of pink and purple fringed with orange and red.

In the middle of these colors he can make out a darker figure sitting before the edge of the cliff. Though they are sitting in the snow, they show no signs of discomfort.

Sephiroth makes his way across the crunchy snow, his instincts driving him to pull the omega in to his arms and claim him so that he might never disappear again. Sephiroth forces himself to ignore that more primal part of himself, and instead, waits for Cloud to acknowledge his presence first.

He can tell by the subtle tensing that Cloud has noticed him, but otherwise the blond omega gives no other indications that he has acknowledged Sephiroth’s presence.

The two stay like that for well over an hour. The sun finishes setting and the stars begin to flicker in the darkening sky. The temperature drops further and Sephiroth can practically feel the ice forming in his hair. 

But still he waits for Cloud to make the first move.

It is not long before that for the first time in his life, Sephiroth wishes that he could read someone’s mind, Cloud’s mind.

The silence only serves to further fray his nerves and make his instincts howl louder at his resistance.

The silence is painful.

Finally, a soft voice that is deeper than he expected fills the air. “Why are you here?”

At first Sephiroth thinks that he has imagined it, but he already knows that he has not. This is a question he expects. “I’m here for you, Cloud.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Why are you here?”

This too is expected. “I’m here because, Gaia, for some reason, has decided that you are my soul mate. Do you know what that means Cloud?”

Cloud snorts. “A soul mate is the other half of a Gifted. Initially it was thought that a soul mate was the balance a Gifted needs to have a stable life, but it goes deeper than that, supposedly. A soul mate is literally half of a soul, and only when the two halves meet can either person be whole, but they can only be whole together.”

Sephiroth nods. “A textbook answer, but an answer none the less.” He risks taking a step closer. “Do you believe that is possible though? Do you really believe that that is what a soul mate is? Do you believe in the reality of soul mates?”

The silence stretches again. “I have seen enough for myself to know that soul mates exist, but how the relationship between the two haves works seems to be up to the pair and the nature of their relationship. You can take Zack and Aerith for example. The two are soul mates, but they choose to live apart for the protection of both halves despite the fact that their bond is probably trying to pull them together in every situation.” He pauses and takes a shaky breath. “How is Zack? Learning that Shinra has taken custody of Aerith must be a devastating blow.”

Sephiroth is confused by the change of topics. “How do you know Aerith? More importantly, how do you know that she was taken by Shinra?”

“You have your spies and I have mine. Next time you want something from Reno, make sure that you have something better to offer than the next guy.”

Sephiroth feels like he has just been punched in the gut. Not only did Cloud know that he has been looking from him, he somehow managed to convince Reno to keep his own secrets safe from him. And in doing so, Reno kept vital information from him, relating to Cloud, despite the odd relationship they have had in swapping information for the last several years.

Reno has betrayed him, and Cloud knows this and has exploited this fact.

Just how much does the blond omega really know about why he is there?

“You say that you had something better to offer Reno, what was it?” A part of Sephiroth desperately needs to know this, just to have some peace of mind that Reno has not taken advantage of Cloud.

Cloud turns around, a finger pressed against his lips and a gleam in his eye. “That is a secrete that you don’t need to know.”

Sephiroth sees something in the look in Cloud’s eyes. It is similar to panic, but it seems stronger and more suspicious. This confuses Sephiroth. He needs to know just how much Cloud knows before he can try to convince the blond of his sincere intentions.

“You know why I am here. What do you intend to do?”

Cloud seems taken aback at the question, as though he has not considered it. “I don’t have much of a choice do I. You’ll take me back with you, Shinra will make it a spectacle and we are supposed to live happily ever after. Isn’t that you plan?”

Sephiroth tries to digest what he has just heard. “You think that I will force you against your will to accompany me back to Midgar? Cloud, the decisions to return with me is yours and yours alone. I will not force you to go anywhere with me.” His instincts roar their defiance at that statement. “Where you go is up to you. I simply wish for you to hear me out before you dismiss me.”

“Hear you out? With your obvious advantage, that is hardly a fair situation. How am I to know that you won’t try to use my own thoughts against me? That you won’t just manipulate me?” Cloud snarls.

Sephiroth wants to growl back, to reassert that he is the one in control of the situation, not Cloud. But he holds it back, knowing that that is one of the worst things he could do right now. Instead, he chooses to tell Cloud something that he has not told anyone.

“I can’t see or read your thoughts, Cloud.”

Cloud’s face opens in surprise, his blue eyes searching desperately for a lie. “What do you mean? Explain.”

“I mean that for some reason that is unknown to me, I cannot read your thoughts Cloud. Yours is the only mind I have encountered that seems to nullify my Gift.” He can see Cloud’s look shifting into one of distrust. “I know that there is no way for me to show you the truth, at least not in any way that you would believe me. But I want you to trust me and my word. I would not lie to you, Cloud.”

Cloud sighs. “You’re right. I can’t believe you.” He stands and points at Sephiroth. “You are the Great General Sephiroth! Your Gift is widely known and feared. Never before has anyone been able to negate a Gift, so to tell me that I can do that is crazy.” He takes a deep breath. “Besides, you keep saying that you’re here because I’m your soul mate. How do I know that even that is true? How do I know that you have no ulterior motive towards me?”

Sephiroth is growing frustrated. While he expected that this could happen, it is still not going like he wants it to.

He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a nearly flat box and hands it towards Cloud. “I want you to take this.”

Cloud takes a step back. “What is it?”

Sephiroth sighs impatiently. “Just take it.”

Cloud hesitates before slowly making his way forward. With shaking hands he takes the box and carefully lifts the lid. Inside are two simple necklaces, a thin silver chain with a small pulsing green stone on each one.

When Cloud realizes what it is, his eyes widen and he looks up at Sephiroth. “Where did you ever find something like this?”

Sephiroth silently lets out a sigh of relief. “I knew that all of this would be hard for you to believe, and I do Cloud, I want you to believe that I am not lying to you in any way.” He takes the box back and carefully takes out the two necklaces, holding them by their chains so that the glowing stones are hanging in the cold air. “This is a very rare materia as you know. The stone was once whole and is now split into two halves, which long to be rejoined. The pieces are set with a special set of seals and spells to allow them to react to the behavior of the two people who wear them. In this case they have been designed so that the stone will either obviously crack or break should one person lie to the other.”

Cloud picks up one of the necklaces and examines it closely. “Something like this must have cost a fortune.” He looks back up at Sephiroth. “Why would you do something like this just to convince me of your words?”

“Because Cloud, I want you to you believe that everything I’m telling you is true. You are my soul mate. And I would very much like if you would give me the chance to prove that to you.”

Cloud examines the piece of materia once again. “And what if I say no, or want to leave despite your intentions?”

Sephiroth tries not to growl but a low one does escape. “Then I will let you go. You are my soul mate, not a prisoner held against your will.” He hesitates. “It is possible that a person can be the soul mate of another, but the Gifted may not be the soul mate of the other half. It is uncommon, but possible.”

Cloud looks between the stone and Sephiroth multiple times and Sephiroth can practically see how panicked and distrustful the omega is and he knows that until Cloud puts that necklace on, there is no way he will ever be able to gain the blonde’s trust.

With an agitated growl Cloud glares up at Sephiroth and storms forward until he is stretching to his fullest height to try and seem more intimidating. “Convince me.”

Sephiroth is confused. “Convince you? What do you want me to convince you of?”

Cloud snarls. “Convince me that I should believe you, that you’re not just playing some sick game. Convince me that this is real and not a twisted dream. Convince me that you actually care what I think, not just what you want me to think or do because of being your so-called soul mate.”

“I – I don’t know how to do that.”

Cloud yanks the other necklace out of his hand and takes a deep breath. He stand on his tip-toes and fastens the thin chain around Sephiroth’s neck before stepping back and putting the matching necklace around his own neck.

He looks Sephiroth dead in the eye. “You get one chance to prove to me that what you say is true.”

Sephiroth stands in shock, but nearly purrs in satisfaction when he realizes how quickly the situation has turned. “What would you have me do to prove my words to you, Cloud?”

“Convince me.”


	13. Returning Home

Chapter 12

Sephiroth and Cloud walk side by side back to the courtyard of the shrine in an uneasy silence. Cloud’s mind is a mess of jumbled thoughts and emotions that have no sense of purpose and continually run into each other. In his mind, this whole mess is just one mistake after another, and it only seems to be getting worse.

Cloud knows that going along with Sephiroth and doing what he says is really in his best interests for the time being, but a part of him feels like if he does that, he will be giving up something important. Like he will be giving up a bit of his freedom. A bit of who he is.

When they arrive back at the courtyard, the triplets are waiting for them. They are silent, but if the smirk on Kadaj’s face is anything to go by, they seem to believe that they have won some sort of battle.

It irks Cloud to no end.

They approach the roaring fire that readily heats and illuminates the courtyard and Sephiroth takes Cloud’s hand into his own before turning to address the triplets. “Thank you for helping me find my soul mate. We will stay here the for the night and leave for Midgar first thing in the morning.”

Unable to hold back his conflicting emotions, Cloud yanks his hand away and storms off to the building on the right of the courtyard. This is too much for him to handle in front of others at the moment. He needs to be alone.

He can hear soft footsteps following him, but he can easily tell that they are too loud to be Sephiroth, so he lets them follow.

Soon the others follow as well.

He mostly ignores them, knowing that the one who is following him will stop them very soon.

He takes the two steps into the older building that serves as housing for omegas that have made the journey to the graves of Taiyo and Tsuki. He hears one set of footsteps climb the steps behind him.

The footsteps stop at the top and a soft voice murmurs back to the rest of the group, “None of you are allowed in here. This building is for omegas only, the rest of you will go sleep in the building on the left, that one is for the betas and alphas who choose to make this journey.” Cloud cannot make out the reply as he moves deeper into the building, but he has a feeling he knows how that statement will be received. 

The voice speaks up again, this time it is more agitated. “If any of you so put so much as a foot into the building, I will make sure that you never again have the possibility of reproducing. Is that understood?”

Cloud smirks to himself. It has been a long time since he last encountered another omega with such a fiery spirit.

He focuses his attention ahead, pleased to see that the fire pit in the center of the room is still burning brightly away. He heads towards the nearby pile of pillows and blankets he has arranged previously into a comfortable nest and flops unceremoniously into it.

The footsteps falter for a moment, and stop all together when the one following him sinks next to him in the nest.

“They wouldn’t dare come into here now. You have a some time, there is no need to hold back any longer.”

Cloud tries to ignore it, but very soon he can feel hot streams of tears begin to run down his face. Quiet sobs that wrack his frame soon follow, despite his attempts to hold them in.

He does not know when, but he finds himself holding onto the slim figure next to him, long silver hair blocking out most of the light from the fire.

Eventually the tears dry up and the mental anguish eases up.

“You know, it is impossible to be strong all of the time. Eventually, even the strong must break in order to move on. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human.”

Cloud tries to pull away and give a watery smile, but all he manages to do is let out a harsh shaky breath. “It doesn’t mean I can’t try to do the impossible.”

Yazoo grabs his shoulders and pushes him away. “If you try to do that, you’ll only break more quickly.” He pauses and grabs Cloud’s chin, tilting it up. “You know, Brother is strong, stronger than anyone else. But yet he too is only human. Remember that.”

Cloud nods slowly, the thought having never crossed his mind. 

Yazoo pushes Cloud down onto his back and piles more blankets and pillows around him. “Enjoy this moment while it lasts, for tomorrow you will have to face some of Brother’s greatest fears along with him.”

Yazoo releases him and turns to leave. Cloud reaches out and grabs his wrist. “You could tell them, you know. You’re stronger than they know, and stronger than you realize.” Yazoo tries to pull away, but Cloud stops him again. “You know, being Gifted doesn’t seem to mean that a Gift is loud or showy. The Turks are all Gifted just like the SOLIDERS are, and yet they don’t usually flaunt it, well unless you’re Reno, but he’s a special case.” Cloud sighs. “I’m not good at this. My point is, don’t let Kadaj hold you back, just because he is a Gifted Alpha. You have the power to stand up to him.”

Yazoo eyes Cloud skeptically. “You speak as though you have had experience. How would you know anything about being Gifted?”

Cloud gives a small laugh. “Let’s just say, I’ve been around Gifted for most of life, and some are more chatty than others. You pick up on a few things after a while.”

“But you have made no attempt to hide your distrust of Gifted.”

Cloud lets out another small laugh. “Most of the ones I’ve met are total assholes. But there are a few good ones out there, if you look hard enough.”

“Does this mean that you’ll give Brother a chance, even though he’s Gifted?”

This stops Cloud. As much as he wants to disagree simply because the Alpha is a Gifted, he knows that he cannot be bias. Zack is both an Alpha and Gifted, and yet he has been nothing but a great friend to Cloud. Is it possible that he could have a real relationship based solely on trust with Sephiroth?

“I – I guess I have no choice but to give him a chance.”

………………………………………………………………………………

The following morning, everything moves so fast that Cloud feels as though he is in an odd dream. Everything seems surreal, and yet it all seems overwhelmingly real, all at the same time.

Before he knows it, Cloud is strapped into the backseat of a helicopter with Sephiroth, the triplets having left to find their own way home before he had even woken up, and Reno is up in the front with his soul mate. The redhead is continuously looking into the back with a smug grin and wiggling eyebrows at him and Sephiroth.

Cloud has chosen to squish himself to one side of the chopper in hopes of letting himself get used to Sephiroth’s overwhelming presence before being too close to the Alpha, but it seems that the Alpha has other ideas and has placed himself directly next to him, so that Cloud has little room to move without bumping into him.

The two of them are mostly silent for the long flight. It is as though neither has anything to say, but at the same time they do not actually know how to say anything to each other without thinking that they will make a fool of themselves.

Before either of them realizes it, the chopper makes its descent and they are shuffled out of the aircraft by a certain annoying redhead telling them to go get a room and some alcohol for their nerves.

For the most part the walk through the building the helipad is on is also filled with silence and thankfully no one seems to be out at this late time of day. However, that all changes when they exit the building, and emerge onto the main street that transverses the Shinra compound.

Flashes of light fill the air and voices shout for their attention. For a moment they are both blinded and to Cloud, everything seems to be moving in slow motion as he struggles to comprehend what is happening.

He senses more than sees Sephiroth move closer. An arm is thrown around his neck, and it gently urges him to lower his head. He complies and lets Sephiroth take the lead in this situation.

He keeps his eyes focused on the ground as they slowly make their way through crowd, ignoring what is being shouted at him in favor of trying to take the subtle hints from Sephiroth as to what to do and which direction to head in.

After what seems like an eternity, they make it into a building, the sudden burst of air-conditioning bringing Cloud back to some semblance of reality.

Cloud turns back and sees the solid glass front of a building that is very familiar, and through that glass, cameras are still flashing and voices are still shouting at them.

He turns around again and lets Sephiroth continue to lead him.

Sephiroth removes his arm as they move through the building, and anyone who crosses their path quickly leave once they see the menacing glare that Sephiroth is giving them.

Soon they arrive at the elevator and Cloud enters without a prompt, though he does turn away from Sephiroth once they have started moving

The long elevator ride is silent and Cloud can feel fear bubbling up inside of him with each passing floor.

Finally, they exit the elevator and Sephiroth leads them down an unfamiliar hallway to the only door in sight. He opens the door without using a key and gestures for Cloud to continue inside.

Inside a spacious living room with oversized furniture draws Cloud’s attention, but at the same time, a glimpse of a large kitchen intrigues him. A gray hallway leads away from the kitchen, but all of the connected doors are closed, blocking their contents from Cloud’s view.

Cloud steps forward, away from Sephiroth, and tries to take everything in at once.

Behind him he can hear some awkward shuffling noises and Sephiroth shakily speaks up. “I – I have some things I need to attend to. Make yourself comfortable.”

He backs out of the door quickly and shuts it in front of him, leaving Cloud alone in an unfamiliar place.

Cloud looks around again, wishing he had been able to bring his things with him from the chopper, but Sephiroth had insisted that they would be delivered later. Without something familiar, Cloud feels lost.

He takes his time wandering through those first two rooms, finding the minimalism of the vast space to be too sterile and unwelcoming.

In the kitchen he decides that if he is going to be there for a while, he might as well take the time to find some food.

To his dismay, he finds very little in the cupboards or refrigerator, and what he does find is near or past their expiration dates. Eventually he settles on a frozen dinner and a glass of water to try to easy his restless stomach.

As he impatiently waits for the dinner to cook in the microwave, he takes the opportunity to down an extra suppressant, hoping that it will easy some of the tension he has felt deep within himself ever since Sephiroth came to him at the shrine.

When the frozen dinner has cooked and cooled, he takes it out to the living room and tries to figure out how to turn on the large screen TV. While he manages to find a multitude of remotes, none of them seem to actually turn on the television. Some turn on music or adjust the lights, and some seem to have no function at all. But despite his best attempts, he cannot find the one he wants.

Deciding that he has better things he can do, he scarfs down the bland food, deciding that exploring the rest of the apartment is a better option than hitting random buttons all day.

After quickly cleaning up after his meal, he sets about going through every nook and cranny of the closed rooms.

To his annoyance, he finds that each room is locked with no key in sight except for one.

The door to the master bedroom opens with ease and he eagerly enters, but is again a bit put out by what he finds.

Everything is too simple and organized. The minimalism left everything to function with little comfort beyond what is considered human. And the connected bathroom is much the same.

After staring at the basic bedroom for a while, Cloud decides that if he is going to stay there for a while, he is going to make it more comfortable.

He starts by pulling the blankets and pillows off of the bed and proceeding to search the rest of the apartment for more of the same.

In the end, he ends up substituting a few chairs to help with the support, but he manages to just have enough items to make a small, but comforting nest that will do until he can reorganize the apartment and get a better supply of bedding and pillows for any future needs.

Climbing into his makeshift nest, Cloud decides that he will take the opportunity to rest and figure things out while he can, and worry about Sephiroth once he has had a chance to get used to his new surroundings.

………………………………………………………..

Sephiroth is not sure how to deal with Cloud. All he had thought about was finding Cloud and bringing him home. 

He has no idea what to do now that he has Cloud home with him.

And finding reporters waiting for them inside the Shinra compound has only added to his list of uncertainties. Considering he has been with the one person he would suspect of doing this, and knows that Reno did nothing of the sort, he does not know who would have done something like that.

Cloud has now been thrown into the spotlight that seems to follow him. And while he can do his best to protect Cloud, the media is savage and will most likely tear the blond apart, making it so that he can never have a peaceful life again.

To make matters worse, he has received a call that he is required in the science department, ensuring that he will be away from Cloud for even longer than he would like given the circumstances.

With barely controlled anger he enters the labs only to have a stack of papers thrown at his feet. Curious, he examines them. Each one is from a different newspaper or magazine but they all proclaim the same thing: that he has returned from a mission with a mysterious blond boy toy.

Some have pictures of him and Cloud, but only one has managed to get an image of Cloud’s face. Grainy though it is, it is still clear enough for the blond to be recognizable if he were to go out on his own.

The one thing that each article manages to have left out is Cloud’s dynamic. In that respect he is currently safe, but it is only a matter of time before someone digs that up as well. He can already see the headlines and scandals that will follow.

He dreads them.

Sephiroth looks up at the sound of familiar footsteps. He barely contains his disgust of the greasy scientist before him.

“So it seems that I was right, you would bring your ‘soul mate’ to me. Though I must say, it has taken you far longer than it should have. Now tell me, where is he?”

Sephiroth tries not to growl. “He is none of your concern and out of your jurisdiction. He is not Gifted, therefor you cannot touch him.”

Hojo smirks. “And yet I thought I heard you say that you can’t hear his thoughts. That is certainly out of the ordinary, are you sure he isn’t Gifted?”

Sephiroth releases a low threatening growl. “Of course he isn’t. It’s not possible. Now, unless you need me for anything else, I will return to my soul mate.”

He turns to leave, but an odd laugh from the scientist makes him stop, fear creeping through him.

“I will have him. This ‘soul mate’ of yours. It’s only a matter of time, Sephiroth. But I will have the boy, and when I do, you will be powerless to do anything about it.”


	14. And So It Begins

Chapter 14

Sephiroth is past the point of exhaustion and the day has hardly begun. He has been up all night trying to do damage control after he and Cloud were followed back to his apartment by the mass of reporters.

His PHS has been ringing nonstop between media people trying to get answers to their gossipy questions, and other offices of Shinra that are demanding to know how this happened without their knowledge or consent, and more importantly, just who is Cloud and why is he here?

The only time he has had that he could call a rest period was when he went home a few hours ago to check on Cloud. Pleased to see that blond had managed to fall asleep and that everything was roughly where he left it, Sephiroth had set about finding food for himself and possibly something for Cloud when the omega wakes up.

It did not take long for him realize just how empty his pantry and refrigerator were since it was not one of the thing he had taken into account before rushing off to meet Cloud and the triplets. He quickly sent a message for specific groceries to be dropped off at his door as quickly as possible.

While he waited, he wandered through his apartment trying to see what all was out of place from Cloud looking through everything. Most things were still in place, or just a few centimeters off, and they were quickly put to rights.

However, he was a bit confused by the pile of remotes left on his couch. Especially when he noticed that there are a few missing.

He tried to put himself in Cloud’s place to figure out why the pile was left. In the end he really had no idea what the blond was thinking, but knowing that he himself often confuses some of the ones with similar shapes, he decided to leave them on the coffee table with notes as to what each one does. He figures he would rather Cloud know, than have him accidently hit the wrong button and make a bigger mess.

It took him a couple of minutes, but he was eventually able to find all of the remotes in the room and label each of them.

Sephiroth eventually heard some shuffling outside of his door, so he headed over and opens it, pleased to find a few bags of groceries sitting on the floor before him. Gathering them up quickly, he took them inside and sets about putting them away and putting some aside to make a meal.

He made something simple with what could be considered breakfast ingredients, not knowing when the blond will wake up, or when he will be able to return and make them both a proper meal.

Just as he had taken a bite out of the portion he cooked for himself, his PHS went off yet again. He rushed to answer it, hoping that the chime did not wake Cloud.

“Come to my office. I have something I need to discuss with you.”

The phone goes dead but Sephiroth already knew who it was and what it meant. 

His life was about to become even more difficult.

With a last longing look toward the bedroom where his soul mate is sleeping, Sephiroth left the apartment to meet his inevitable fate.

……………………………..

Cloud wakes up the next morning feeling like he had been sleeping on a rather pokey rock. His limbs are either numb in their current positions, or have random things poking them from somewhere where the blankets and pillows have shifted to during the night.

He opens his eyes slowly and shoots up into a sitting position when he realizes that he is somewhere unfamiliar. He quickly checks himself for new injuries or any form of restraints that may be holding him in place in this new surrounding. Finding none, he frantically looks around the room, hoping that something will clue him in as to where he actually is.

Nothing registers as familiar to him. The gray walls reflect little light and only add to the dark shadows cast about the room leaving the corners dark and unwelcoming.

As his panic rises even further, Cloud sees something that both puts him at ease, but also sends the events of the last few days rushing back to him.

In one of the dark corners, he can make out the dull gleam of light reflecting off of leather. With a bit of concentration, he can just make out the slightly off, but still familiar shape of General Sephiroth’s famous leather jacket.

Cloud jumps out of his messy nest and darts out of the room, needing to reaffirm to himself that he really is in the home of General Sephiroth, and that this is not all merely a dream.

When he makes it through the hallway and into the living room and kitchen area some of his panic eases. These rooms he is more familiar with, and he is forced to admit to himself that this is not a dream.

Tentatively, he begins to explore the spaces anew, seeing that something seems off about each space compared to what it was before, but he is not sure what all is off or out of place at a mere glance.

He enters the kitchen first and begins opening all of the cabinets and appliances to see what all has changed. Other than a few moved dishes and utensils, nothing seems missing, only out of place. When he opens the fridge he finds that it has a few more ingredients than the day before and there is a dish covered in foil with instructions written on a small paper taped to the top.

The handwriting is neat and organized, but very straight forward leading Cloud to believe that it is probably Sephiroth’s. Deciding that he is not going to pass up the opportunity of a mostly prepared meal, he follows the instructions and removes the foil, placing the glass dish in the microwave for the specified amount of time.

Once the dish is done cooking, Cloud leaves it alone for a few minutes to cool as he goes about grabbing something to drink and utensils to eat whatever is in the dish.

Deciding that his food has cooled enough, he carefully pulls it out of the microwave, only to be surprised by how cool the dish actually is. He carefully unscrews the lid and opens it.

A steady column of steam rushes out, blinding him for a moment. Once he can see clearly again, he finds that the contents of the dish much resemble a soup, but only typical breakfast ingredients are used. Dipping his spoon and testing a big of the mess of eggs, rice, and other unknown substances, Cloud is surprised to find that whatever it is is quite delicious.

Taking the bowl into the living room with him, Cloud is amused and intrigued to find a collection of remotes that is even larger than the one he found last night. Each remote is laid out on the glass coffee table with a note attached to it detailing what it controls.

When he finds the one to the TV he turns it on, hoping to find out what has been happening in Midgar since he left.

His jaw drops when he sees what is the most popular topic on the majority of channels.

Him.

Cloud Strife is everywhere on the news and gossip channels.

Each one seems to have its own collection of photos and brief video clips of him and Sephiroth from the day they arrived back in Midgar. While most seem to not have a picture of his face, thanks to Sephiroth, there are still a few that managed to get a few shots from when they first stepped outside, and when he turned around once they entered the apartment complex.

He finally pulls his attention away from the photos, and back to what they speakers are saying. His stomach turns at their words.

His name and his dynamic are laid out for the entire world to see and hear.

He knows now that even if he wanted to leave now, he will be recognized for years to come and there will be no place for him to go where he will truly be safe or able to hide himself again.

Many of his worst nightmares have just come true right before his eyes.

……………………………..

He does not know how much time has passed, but Cloud can clearly hear when the door to the apartment is opened, and the almost silent footsteps let him know who has entered.

He ignores Sephiroth.

Eventually the TV is shut off and a hand grabs his jaw, forcing him to look Sephiroth in the eye.

“I know it seems bad now, but I promise you, I’m doing everything I can to make it stop. I hope you understand that.”

Cloud tries to look away.

“Cloud.” Sephiroth sighs. “Neither of us can do anything to fix this now, and you know that.”

Cloud shuts his eyes, not wanting to deal with this right now.

The hand is removed from his jaw.

He hears a clanking sound as Sephiroth picks up his neglected bowl from this morning. “Was it not to your liking?”

Cloud shakes his head and mumbles, “No it was fine. I just got – I just got distracted.” He peaks his eyes open. “I’ll take care of that.”

He reaches for the dishes, but Sephiroth pulls them out of reach. “I’ll take them. After all, it’s nearly time for dinner, and it seems you haven’t eaten today. Unless I am mistaken?”

Cloud ducks his head sheepishly. “No, you’re right.”

He hears Sephiroth stand, and something flutters onto the glass coffee table. “You might want to take a look at that, Cloud. It is inevitable that both of us are required attend, so you might as well prepare for it now.”

Though curious, Cloud waits for Sephiroth to leave before he lets his attention shift to the blood red envelope before him.

It seems innocent enough, a simple envelope that is not addressed to anyone, but when he turns it around and sees the imprint in the broken wax seal, he nearly drops it.

His hands begin to shake as he eases the golden parchment out of the envelope. He scans the contents, before going back to reread the whole letter.

He can hear this breath hitch as he drops the letter. He can hardly find words, but he manages to squeak out, “A ball? An actual ball? What is – I don’t understand.”

Cloud feels arms suddenly around him, urging him up and over to the small dining table. He is guided to sit.

All he can do is stare blankly at the plate in front of him in shock.

“Cloud –“

“I – I don’t understand. What is this? What’s going on?”

Cloud can hear Sephiroth pull out and sit in his own seat before he continues. “I will be honest with you Cloud, in the last few months the public has not been favoring Shinra or the way it handles things. Instead they have been looking to put another group of Gifted in power. Groups like AVALANCHE are starting to compete for that spot, but Shinra is refusing to go down without a fight. So Rufus Shinra has taken it upon himself lately to try to win back the publics’ favor by trying to appease them and to fulfill some of their desires, outside of protection. This is one of his more grandiose ideas that the rest of us are forced into.”

Cloud wrinkles his brow. “I don’t understand how hosting a ball will help Shinra, wouldn’t it just give the other groups an excuse to pull something and take a good chunk of Shinra out of the picture?”

Sephiroth sighs. “This ball is a publicity stunt. The media is currently feeding a frenzy of the people’s desire for romantic drama after finding out about Aerith, and now they are trying to get their claws into you. So Rufus has decided to use that frenzy to get the attention and support back on Shinra. This ball will be to show off all of the Gifted and their soul mates, letting the people see and hear what they want. With the number of us there, it will actually be one of the safest places in the city. No other group, not even AVALANCHE would dare to try to pull something on that night.”

Cloud looks up at Sephiroth, his eyes searching for any extra hidden details. “There really is no choice, is there.”

Sephiroth shakes his head. “No there is not.”

“What do we need to do for it?”

Sephiroth tries but fails to give the blond a smile. “Usually the Gifted and their soul mates are shown off to the media and public for photos and small talk before actually going inside the main hall. There we will be expected to be together at all times and mingle with those in attendance, and Rufus will be walking around, trying to show us off to people of influence.”

Cloud can feel Sephiroth’s searching gaze matching his own. “I know that this is a bit sudden, but are you alright with this, Cloud? I know it goes against much of what you have tried to live by, but I do not know how to help you, or if it is even possible now to have you go back to your old life.”

“I know that, and I appreciate that you would even say that.” Cloud looks down at his plate, not seeing what is before him. “How much time do we have to get ready?”

Sephiroth leans back, and Cloud can see that he is pleased. “We have a month to prepare, and during that month I will do my best to try to teach you what you will need to know to make it through the event. Rufus also mentioned that he was hand selecting the wardrobes for everyone this time. I can only hope that it won’t be as bad as last time.”

“Why? What happened last time?”

Sephiroth gives Cloud a stern glare. “There are some things best left forgotten.”

Cloud gives a small smile. “Now you’ve made me curious.” He lets the smile fall as he tries to process what is being asked of him.

Eventually, he looks up again at Sephiroth, smile gone, and a serious look on his face. “I’ll do it. I’ll work with you to get through this. After that, then we need to talk about how the rest of this mess is going to go.”

Sephiroth nods. “That is more than I could ask for. Thank you, Cloud.”


	15. The Ball

Chapter 15

The month is up faster than he expected, and Cloud is feeling more and more like an unwilling captive with each passing day.

With Sephiroth frequently away on missions for days at a time, Cloud finds himself alone most of the time, but when he has tried to leave the apartment he has quickly discovered that both the elevator and stairway require a key to access them, something that he does not have. The door to Sephiroth’s apartment also requires the same type of key, and with no spare key laying around, Cloud has spent a couple of nights out in the hall waiting to be let back in, as a result of wanting to get out for a while.

He has wanted to make contact with Zack and let him know what is going on, but has found that his PHS is missing, and he cannot find any others around Sephiroth’s apartment. 

On one of the rare occasions that Sephiroth was home, Cloud tried to question him about it, but the Alpha dodged the question. And when he asked again, the result was a shouting match that lasted well over an hour before Sephiroth used his Voice to make Cloud submit before storming out and not returning for over a week.

Now he is curled in a ball inside his slightly expanded nest, dreading the night ahead. For the last couple of days he has felt sick to his stomach, and he is sure that he has the flu. But tonight he is expected to look and act his best for a room full of strangers and make them believe that he and Sephiroth are a perfectly happy and healthy couple.

Just the thought of that makes him want to puke.

All he wants is to pack up his stuff and leave without looking back. Probably travel for a while with no real destination, but eventually pick a place to settle down for a while. But now, after everything that has happened and with what his instincts demand, he knows that that is an impossible wish.

At this point, all he can wish is that he will make it through the night all right so that he can be sick when he gets back to the apartment. But even then, he will probably have to deal with Sephiroth and whatever unstable mood the Alpha is likely to be in by the end of the night.

He hears the door click open and surprisingly two sets of footsteps enter. “Cloud,” Sephiroth practically whispers, “It’s time to get ready. Rufus Shinra has deemed it necessary to provide you with a stylist for the evening since this is your public debut.” He pauses when he does not get an immediate response. “I’ll check on you in a little while. I expect you to behave and do what she wants in the meantime.”

The door shuts, and Cloud can feel more than hear the layers of his nest being pulled back until the harsh artificial light of the room floods his vision.

“Rise and shine, Cloud. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you can go back to sulking.”

Cloud looks up and a mess of wavy auburn hair is practically in his face as its owner reaches down to pull him up.

“Cissnei? What are you doing here? I thought you would be out on a mission, not playing puppet to the whims of Rufus Shinra of all people.” Cloud cannot help but grin at the sight of the familiar beta.

“Technically, I’m on a mission Cloud. I just decided to approach it from a different angle.” She gives him a pointed look.

“Yeah, yeah. I know, don’t ask because you won’t tell me anyway.”

“Exactly.” She bits her lip for a moment. “You know, I haven’t seen you around Seventh Heaven recently. But knowing you, you must have a good reason for not playing the role of extra staff for Tifa lately.”

They pause, and there is an easy silence between them.

“Reno’s worried about you. He says he hasn’t seen you since you got here.” She reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Are you ok, Cloud?”

He remains silent and pointedly ignores the question.

After another moment of silence, Cissnei moves on to the next order of business. “Alright, get up Cloud, time to make you ready to outshine everyone else at this ball.” Not taking his groan for an answer, she reaches down and forcefully pulls him out of what remains of the nest. “First things first, you have ten minutes to shower before I come and grab you out myself.”

He shuffles over to the bathroom and proceeds to do what she says.

The heat from the shower helps him to clear his head and focus on what is going to be happening very soon. All he has to do is smile and make it through the night without embarrassing himself or Sephiroth. Then, after they return back to the apartment and Sephiroth has gone to bed, Cloud will take his access key to get out of the building and finally be free for the first time in a month.

It sounds simple enough, but Cloud knows that in reality, nothing is that simple.

Once his shower is done and he quickly dries off, Cloud steps back into the bedroom with naught but a towel tied around his waist, and stops in his tracks when he sees everything that Cissnei has pulled out of seemingly nowhere. She pats the bed and grins as he slowly approaches.

He sits and immediately his head is being pulled this way and that as she tries to run a brush through the mass of blond spikes. After several minutes of fighting and some choice curses on both sides, the beta eventually relents and lets the spikes do as they please, glaring at them every few minutes for their unwillingness to cooperate.

Next came the layers of makeup Cissnei carefully applies to his face, she claims that she is trying to give him more color and bring out his eyes. Her only comment as he fights to remain still and not mess up her hard work is that he seems abnormally warm, but shrugs it off as just remnant heat from his shower.

Once she deems his face to be acceptable, the beta pulls out a garment bag out the closet. “Stand up and close your eyes, Cloud. I want this part to be a surprise.”

Cloud sighs and does what she says, not wanting to fight this anymore than he already has.

He can feel silky fabric being draped and tied in various places, and soon a basic shape of what he is wearing forms in his head. He frowns and the realization.

He whips around and faces Cissnei with an angry snarl. “Why the hell are you putting me in a dress?”

“Because it’s traditional for omegas of high class to wear them to important social events. Now turn around and let me finish tying this.”

“I DON’T CARE IF IT’S TRADITIONAL! I’M NOT WEARING A FUCKING DRESS!”

“Well guess what Cloud, this is what you were given to wear and considering the host of the party picked it out specifically for you and is one of the most powerful people in Midgar, you don’t have a choice!” She glares back. “Suck it up and shut up. You can’t afford to stick you nose up at it now.”

“But – “

Cissnei puts a finger to his lips. “No buts. Just be glad you don’t have to wear heels with it. Now hold still, I need to finish tying the back.”

It takes a couple more minutes, but eventually she steps back to admire her work. “Go look in the mirror Cloud. You should see yourself.”

Cloud sighs again and wanders back into the bathroom, dreading what he will find. When he sees his reflection he is pleased to see that he cannot really tell that makeup has been used on his face, but when he sees the dress, he almost screams.

The sapphire colored dress is carefully draped across the front so that it creates a deep v, but is tied so that it is practically clinging to him like a second skin. The waist is pulled tight to make it seem like he has curves, and the bottom flairs only so slightly so that he can actually walk. When he turns to see the back he grinds his teeth together. The back has an even deeper v than the front with thin lacing crisscrossing the gap all the way down his back, and it leave little to the imagination.

Cloud shuffles back into the room, a scowl on his face. “Are you sure I can’t just wear normal clothing. Even a suit would be better than this.”

Cissnei giggles. “Nope. Though I must say, that dress makes your ass look great.”

He grabs a pillow and throws it at her. “Not helping.”

She laughs again and holds up a pair of light gold gladiator sandals. “And now, the final touch.”

Cloud groans as he grabs them and starts trying to buckle them in place. They reach up to just below his knee, perfectly starting where the length of the dress ends. He shakes a foot and grumbles, “They’re too big.”

Cissnei snorts, “Small feet, Cloud?”

“Shut up.” Cloud makes his way over to the door and turns back. “I don’t know that I can really say ‘thank you’ for all of this, but I am glad to see you.”

She nods. “It gets better. I’m sure it will.”

Cloud nods and turns away, leaving the room.

When he enters the living room he hears Sephiroth’s breath catch in his throat. He stops when he feels the Alpha approach and examine him. Sephiroth circles around him, but when he reaches Cloud’s back, he runs his hands over the partial tattoo that sits on the small of Cloud’s back and a shiver runs down the omega’s spine.

Cloud snatches his hand and pushes it away. “Don’t.” He does not want those memories to be brought up now of all times.

Sephiroth growls. “What is this?”

“It’s exactly what it looks like. Midgar is not as safe or peaceful as people like you would make it out to be. Shit happens, and you move on.”

Sephiroth presses his hand against the howling wolf tattoo. “How long, Cloud? How long did they hold you for you to have this?”

Cloud snaps back. “No one touched me, if that’s what you’re asking.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “It was a long time ago, I wasn’t careful and I got caught. I got out after two days and that’s all that matters.”

“Cloud –“

“Don’t we have someplace we have to be? Better not leave all those people waiting.”

He storms out of the apartment, not even bothering to see if Sephiroth is following right away or not. But he can already tell the Alpha is following right on his heels, unasked questions still hanging in the air.

……………………………………………………….

The ball is held at a renovated theatre in the entertainment district of Midgar. A red carpet is rolled out for those in attendance, and as expected, crowds have gathered from far and wide simply to see such famous Gifted in person, and with their soul mates that are rarely seen in public.

As Cloud steps out of the limo that was sent to retrieve him and Sephiroth, he is immediately assaulted by camera flashes that threaten to blind him. He stumbles back for a moment, but a hand catches his waist and guides him steadily towards the theatre and away from the photographers. He tries not to pay attention as he keeps a smile plastered to his face, but he can still hear the yells and whispers from the crowed that are directed towards him.

Sephiroth alone in full battle leathers is enough to turn anyone’s head, but coupled with the fact that he is accompanied by some that also turns heads, makes them immediately the most popular couple on the red carpet.

He resists the urge to tug at the strap of black cloth around neck. Another unwanted gift from Rufus Shinra. It is tight and constraining, and it also is a beacon for marking him, after all the chocker marks him as and omega and acts as a pseudo collar, marking him as claimed property. That alone is enough to draw attention to him.

When they finally make their way inside, Cloud’s head feels dizzy with the bright lights and varying scents that fill the room. Some areas smell only of food, others of overly perfumed individuals, and still others carry the overbearing scent of Alphas trying to subtly demonstrate their dominance in a more ‘civil’ manner.

Cameras still flash as a few select companies have been allowed to send representatives, and a film crew is present so that the event can be broadcast live across the continent. Cloud tries not to scowl at the sight of them. He can already see that this will not be in his favor no matter how the evening turns out.

Sephiroth leads him through the crowd, stopping only every now and then to greet people whom they are required to interact with. Many of them try to get Cloud to interact, or reach out to touch him, but Sephiroth is quick to stop them and force their attention elsewhere.

Across the room, Cloud can see Zack making his way through the crows as well; Aerith is with him dressed in a soft pink gown adored with small crystal flowers. Every once in a while, their make eye contact, and Zack will try to work his way over, but someone either stops him on the way, or Sephiroth quickly guides Cloud away.

Eventually they make it across the room, and Cloud realizes a moment too late that Sephiroth is acting differently towards the blond man who is staring at him. He comes back to reality and the young blond is practically in his face, circling around him and admiring what he sees. Despite their proximity, Cloud is unable to determine the man’s dynamic.

“I do have good taste if I do say so myself.” He reaches out a hand, which Cloud takes. He is surprised when the man brings the hand to his lips and kisses it. “It is a pleasure to meet you Cloud Strife. I’m Rufus Shinra, I truly am glad that you are able to grace this event with your unmatched beauty.”

Cloud feels heat rush to his cheeks and the hand on his waist tightens to the point where it is nearly painful. He smiles wider, trying to mask the discomfort. “You’re too kind. But the pleasure is all mine simply to be here tonight.” The words taste like ash in his mouth.

Rufus laughs. “Splendid.” He turns to Sephiroth. “You really must tell me sometime just how you two managed to meet. I’m sure it is quite the story.” 

“Indeed.”

Rufus waves to someone behind them. “If you’ll excuse me, I do have other guests to entertain. I will see you two later.”

When he leaves, the pressure on Cloud’s waist disappears and his arm is grabbed in a bruising grip instead. “What was that about?”

Cloud tries to pull back, but knows he cannot make a scene here. “It’s called lying.”

“No, I mean the part where you let him touch you.”

Cloud narrows his eyes and hisses. “It didn’t seem like I had much choice. Besides, I belong to no one. It is my decision who I allow to make contact with me.”

Sephiroth gives him a firm shake. “You are my soul mate, and to these people that means that you do belong to me. Remember that and we might just make it through the night.”

The Alpha turns away and mutters, “Let’s get you something to drink, you’re burning up.”

He grabs a glass of white wine off of the tray that a waiter brings up to them. “Drink this, grab some water when you can. The last thing either of us needs is for you to be drunk right now.”

Cloud glares and downs the entire glass in a few gulps just to spite the taller Alpha.

He receives the glare he expected and he smirks in return.

Their attention is called for by the ringing of a gong throughout the building. They follow the rest of the crowed into another room and are greeted by a grand dining hall filled to the brim with foods of all types and from all over the world. Each long table throughout the room lists the names of the individuals who are supposed to be sitting there. 

It is no surprise to Cloud when he sees his name on the same list as Sephiroth and Rufus Shinra. He spots Zack helping Aerith take a seat across the room.

People quickly fill their seats and soon their attention is called for again by the clanging of a utensil against a glass.

Rufus stands and makes a speech. “Friends and honored guests, tonight we are here to celebrate not only another year of decreased crime due to the hard work of our Gifted, but the two of those Gifted who have found their soul mates this year.” He gestures for them to stand, which they begrudgingly do so. “May they find all of the happiness and love that they deserve with each other.”

Applause fill the room, and Cloud can feel his face heat up again, but a firm grip on his hand reminds him that he cannot look away, that he must face these people.

Rufus waves his hand, signaling for silence once again. “Now, I think we have given these couples enough embarrassment for the night.” He motions for them to sit. “I hope that this next year will be even more productive, and who knows, maybe by then we will be able to announce some expected pups if luck is on our side.”

Cloud can feel Rufus’s gaze fall on him in that moment. He tries not to squirm in his seat.

The gaze goes away and the speech continues. “And now, a toast to a new year with new opportunities, and to the new couples.”

Glasses of wine are raised and cheers are echoed throughout the room with the tinkling of glass tapping glass as everyone takes a drink.

Rufus gestures to the room and retakes his seat as everyone begins to grab the foods that catch their eye.

Cloud is thankful that Sephiroth has released him and that it appears that he is at least allowed to pick out his own food. With is plate mostly full, he begins eating, and he is grateful for how good the food really is. He quickly adds more to his plate.

He loses track of the time as he continues eating and drinking both wine and water, his stomach never feeling full, but his body feeling hotter as the night wears on. He reaches for another glass of wine, but his hand is stopped before the glass reaches his mouth.

“You need to stop now Cloud. If you keep drinking like this you’ll be drunk before the meal is over. And you should probably stop eating, I’m sure that it is not safe to eat a fourth plate of food in under an hour, even with that much wine in your system.”

Cloud glares at him and tries to pull his hand away. They struggle for a moment before Sephiroth suddenly releases his grip. Cloud’s hand flies back and he can feel the glass start to slip out of his grip.

A hand catches his as he nearly drops the wine glass. “Careful there Spike, don’t want you to ruin that dress, now do we?”

Cloud turns and gives a small genuine smile at the familiar Alpha. “Zack, it’s good to see you.”

Cloud can see Zack silently glaring at the hand that has returned to his arm and is now slowly bruising it. “Well considering I haven’t been able to get ahold of you since you came back, I had to make sure that you’re all right. Are you all right Cloud? Sephiroth isn’t giving you a hard time, is he?

The grip on his arm tightens further. “I’m fine Zack. Really I am.” He looks around quickly. “Where’s Aerith?”

His eyes soften at the mention of his soul mate. “She’s going to examine the room. She says she can feel the tension slowly rising and she doesn’t know why, but she’s going to find out. The last thing we need is for this room to explode in an all out brawl.” 

He looks at Cloud again. “Are you really sure that you’re ok Spike? You’re bright red.” He puts a hand on Cloud’s forehead. “You’re burning up! You should have said something if you weren’t feeling well. You shouldn’t be here if you’re sick.”

Cloud can feel Sephiroth’s scrutinizing gaze. “I’m fine Zack. It’s just a stomach bug.” He grabs another glass of wine off a passing tray, downing it quickly. “It will pass if I just keep moving.”

“Spike –“

Cloud’s vision suddenly starts to spin and he feels a wave of heat race through him as he slowly falls towards the ground, the glass slipping from his grip and spilling across the floor. His mind races through the possibilities of why this can be occurring, but only one seems possible with the given symptoms. And though he hates to admit it, it is the worse thing that could possibly happen right now.

The suppressants have failed and his heat is starting right here, right now, in a room full of Alphas with the whole world watching.

He looks up to Sephiroth, and he can see the man’s eyes widen with a realization of what is probably happening. “We need to leave, now.”

The Alpha gives a curt nod before pulling Cloud to his feet and wrapping a hand tightly across his waist. Cloud tries to fight off the shiver that races through him from the touch. With one hand on his waist and the other on his arm, he is lead through the masses, his feet stumbling every few steps.

The room is awash with the whispers as people watch them leave, and even a few gasps from people closer to him that are able to smell the beginning of his heat. He can feel their gazes, and the gaze of the cameras on them, he dreads stepping outside into the larger crowd.

The doors open and once again bright flashing lights fill his vision, making him feel even worse. Thankfully, Sephiroth is not stopping and they hurry over to a waiting limo, ignoring the masses that are calling their names and asking them questions.

Their abrupt departure is causing quite the scandal.

Sephiroth helps Cloud inside before quickly shutting the door and instructing the driver to take them back to the apartment.

Once they start moving, Cloud feels his stomach lurch, and a small garbage can is handed to him. The former contents of his stomach soon fills it, and Cloud only feels worse for it.

After he has set down the garbage can, Sephiroth passes him a piece of ginger gum to hopefully clear the taste out of his mouth and help soothe his stomach. It helps with his breath, but he can feel his heat intensify leaving him feel out of breath and unfocused.

All he wants to do is go back to his nest and let the heat run its course, but he has a feeling that that will not happen.

When they reach the correct building, Sephiroth picks Cloud up and carries him up to the apartment, ignoring those who try to stop or talk to them on the way.

In what seems like an instant, Cloud is suddenly being dropped onto Sephiroth’s bed and the Alpha has begun to remove his clothes. It is then that Cloud realizes that he managed to get some vomit on the dress.

Once the dress is removed, the shoes are practically torn off and thrown across the room, and the chocker is ripped off, the latch breaking in the process. Cloud can see Sephiroth’s chest heaving and his eyes dilating with the scent of Cloud’s heat.

Cloud knows what is about to happen, he wishes that this was not about to happen, but at the same time, he has been expecting something like this to happen ever since the Alpha brought him back to Midgar.

He flinches as Sephiroth begins to rub his hands over Cloud’s body, the heat within him igniting even further.

“You know Cloud,” Sephiroth whispers, “Seeing all of those people stare and lust after you made me realize that you were right. You weren’t mine. But now, now I’m going to make it so that they never dare to think something like that again.”

He leans in and begins to kiss Cloud. At first Cloud resists, but soon he opens his mouth just enough for the Alpha’s tongue to enter and explore. He does not try to force the muscle out or reciprocate the actions, he just lets it happen.

At the same time, he can feel a hand exploring the flesh around his thighs and soon it grabs his slowly growing erection and beings stroking it, distracting him from any thoughts of rebellion.

Cloud’s mind grows hazy and soon he cannot keep up with Sephiroth’s actions, pleasure and hints of pleasure hitting him with each touch and tug. He hardly realizes when Sephiroth’s mouth has left his own and is instead sucking and nipping his neck.

He can feel a pressure building in his lower stomach, and before he realizes it, his is blinded by the pure white pleasure that envelops him, cutting him off from every aspect of reality.

When he comes down off of the pleasure high, Cloud’s chest aches with is rapid breathing and he can hear the sounds of rustling leather. Soon Sephiroth appears before him again, only this time his is in his fully naked glory. Cloud cannot help but gulp at the sight before him.

Sephiroth smirks before coming back and climbing on top of Cloud. The Alpha effortlessly flips Cloud onto his stomach and begins to trail soft kisses across his back and down his spine. His hands rubbing every inch of skin, setting even more fires ablaze inside of Cloud.

Eventually the trail of kisses leads to the wolf tattoo and Cloud can hear and angry and jealous growl from the Alpha. Teeth meet the mark and bite at it viciously, tearing at the skin and drawing blood. Cloud cries out in pain, but his pleas are ignored.

Eventually the mark is left alone and the trial of now bloody kisses begins to make their way back up his spin, only this time a hand begins to massage his ass, and a finger slips in between and begins to circle his hole, coating itself with his slick in the process.

Cloud lurches when a finger is pressed inside of him. He tries to wiggle away, but the other hand holds him firmly in place.

Sephiroth’s teeth graze the nape of Cloud’s neck, causing the blond omega to shiver and unintentionally thrust back onto with wiggling finger. He can hear a low chuckle and the nape of his neck is licked and the same process of sucking and nipping begins anew on that patch of skin.

A second finger is pushed in to join the first, and now Cloud is beginning to feel uncomfortable and tries to squirm away again. Sephiroth pulls away so that the only contact his is having with Cloud is the hand pushed into the center of his back to hold him down, and the fingers that are carefully trying to stretch out the squirming omega for something much larger.

Sephiroth seems to be growing impatient as a third finger is added much sooner. 

Cloud is softly crying at this point. He has regained enough clarity of mind to realize all of what is happening and he has accepted it. However, he wishes that it could have happened differently, and on his terms, not like this.

He blames himself for not noticing signs that his heat was coming; that he believed that nothing had been wrong the last few days.

He nearly sighs in relief when he feels the fingers being removed, but when he feels his hips being lifted as something much larger begins to line up to enter him, he feels his heart stop.

Sephiroth slams into him, the amount of slick making it easy and fast.

Cloud feels more than hears the scream that escapes. He feels like he is being torn apart and he knows that there is nothing he can do to stop it.

Sephiroth gives him no time to adjust before he is moving again. With each thrust, a harsh sob escapes from Cloud.

Eventually Sephiroth shifts just enough so that he begins to hit Cloud’s prostrate. With each thrust, the omega is overcome with waves of pleasure and increased heat and allow his mind to slip back into a muddled heap as his instincts take over and control his actions.

Moans of pleasure are soon filling the room alongside the sounds of harsh breathing and flesh slapping against flesh.

Cloud does not know when Sephiroth’s rhythm became erratic, but all he knows is that soon the thrusts are much harsher and the sound of Sephiroth’s heavy and uneven breathing drowns out all other sounds in the room.

He feels teeth go back to the nape of his neck and gently break the skin.

All of a sudden, Cloud can feel his heat disappear as a new heavy heat floods his insides, and the teeth bite harshly down on his neck, sending him over the edge once again.

The sensation is both comforting and disgusting.

Cloud can feel that heavy heat seep into the rest of him, and all of he energy disappears with it. His eyes begin to flutter, and within moments he is fast asleep.

……………………………………………………………………………

Cloud’s heat lasted for three days.

On the morning of the fourth day, Sephiroth stands over the blond omega, guilt consuming him.

Cloud is a mess. Much of him is covered in bloody kisses, bruises, bite marks, and various bodily fluids. Worst of all to Sephiroth is the angry red bite mark on the nape of Cloud’s neck.

A mating bite on one of the most sensitive areas of the omega’s body.

Sephiroth believes that he has taken advantage of Cloud. It was obvious to the Alpha that the omega was in heat and not thinking clearly and that he was fairly drunk by the time they made it back to the apartment. Either one of those factors taking away Cloud’s ability to agree to any of this. And yet he did it any way.

He feels as though he has raped his soul mate.

Through the bond that is now formed as a result of the mating mark, Sephiroth can tell that Cloud is in no immediate harm, but he feels like it will not be like that for long. The blond may seem to peacefully asleep right now, but Sephiroth knows that he will not be that peaceful when he wakes up and realizes what has been done to him.

This bond is odd to Sephiroth. In many ways it reminds him of his ability to read the thoughts of others, but at the same time it is profoundly different. He cannot hear words or phrases, and there are no really images of thoughts to interpret. Instead, it is more like he can read Cloud’s true emotions, if he is happy or stressed. This awareness even when the omega is asleep is what Sephiroth initially pay attention to the new bond.

He cannot handle it. At least not right now. Not after what he has done.

He packs a bag and prepares to leave, setting an extra key on the kitchen counter for Cloud to eventually find. He takes one last longing look at his sleeping soul mate before turning his back and leaving the apartment.

As he waits for the elevator to finish its decent, he pulls out his PHS and pushes a single button. The call is answered immediately.

“Yes?”

“I need a mission. Any mission. Just something that is far away and that will require me to be gone for a few days.”

“Did something happen after you left Rufus’s ball with your soul mate?”

“Just give me a mission.” He ends the call.

He needs this. He needs time to clear his head, time without Cloud.

Just a few days to figure out how to apologize for his actions.


	16. Numb

Chapter 16

Cloud wakes up feeling worse than he ever has in his memory. Every inch of him aches and feels dirty and crusty with substances he does not wish to think about at the moment. The heavy scent of sex and Alpha floods his nose with each breath and reawakens his instincts.

He immediately looks around for Sephiroth.

When the Alpha is nowhere to be seen, a small pained whine escapes, and his instincts urge him to search for his missing partner. When he does not come to investigate Cloud’s pained whines, it cuts through him like a knife. Part of him is relieved that he has a moment to himself to take stock of himself after all that has happened the last few days, but a larger part of him is disappointed that Sephiroth seems to have only stayed for his heat before leaving him.

Despite knowing that is was a high possibility, Cloud really wishes that Sephiroth would have done what an Alpha is supposed to, and stay after their omega’s heat.

He had feared that this would happen and tried to deny his gut feeling, but in his heart he always knew it would come to this. Soul mate or not, if there is no love in a relationship, nothing good can come of it, especially when it really matters.

Like every omega he has ever encountered, Cloud has dreamt of finding his true mate that would be his other half and that they would complete each other in every way. He thought that he could have that with Sephiroth since he was supposedly the Alpha’s soul mate, and from everything he has seen and heard, which is what usually happens.

He was very wrong.

Cloud determines to not let this hold him down. He is going to find a way out of this situation, and when he does, he intends to do his best to move on and not look back for a mate who does not care about him.

Slowly, Cloud braces himself against the waiting pain he is sure will come and props himself; trying to take stock of how bad this heat was on his body, especially now that he has taken a partner for it.

When he sees the remnants, he nearly throws up. Every inch of his visible skin is marred in some way. Bruises, and bloody kisses cover much of the pale surface, but other parts are covered with various crusty substances. He aches all over, in some places it is deeper than others, but it still remains constant and unforgiving.

Knowing that he needs to clean himself off immediately, he crawls out of the bed, falling to the floor when the pain that shoots up his spine paralyzes him. His voice falters, and a pained squeak is all that comes out. His breath is harsh and panting as he waits for the wave of pain to pass.

Eventually he feels like he can actually move and be braces himself as best he can against the pain. He quickly realizes that he will not be able to withstand the pain if he attempts to stand, instead he slowly crawls his way over to the bathroom, doing his best to ignore the pain that pulses greater with each movement. The cool tile of the bathroom floor sends a new type of pain through his body, and the hard tile does nothing to ease bumps and bruises on his arms and legs.

After a bit of work, he manages to reach the facet and turn on the water. After stopping the drain, he lets the tub fill with hot water. He uses the waiting period as a moment to regain hi will and momentum to pull himself into the tub.

The scalding hot water burns every inch of his being, causing him to shout out in pain once he enters the water. He forces himself to remain in the scalding water, telling himself that the heat will help take away some of the pain, and wash away some of the filth.

Cloud watches the once crystal clear water quickly become dirty and soon it is tinted a pale pink from the dried blood. He drains the tub and refills it again with more scalding water and adding a bit of liquid soap to try and hide some of the marks covering him.

This time he sets about slowly and carefully washing himself, scrubbing harder than necessary. His skin is soon red from the scrubbing and the bruises are now more prominent.

He leans back to wash his hair and the moment his neck hits the water, pain wracks his body stronger than before.

A hand flies to the back of his neck, and upon feeling the deep groves of the still healing mating bite, he screams until it feels and tastes like his throat is bleeding.

His living nightmare is even worse than he could have ever imagined.

He has been claimed, and by someone who only cares about him being their soul mate, and not about him as a person. And now with the mating bite, he cannot escape it even if he wants to. Until one of them dies, he is now legally and physically bound to Sephiroth in the eyes of society.

Despair engulfs him, smothering him to the point where he struggles to breathe and he wishes that none of this ever happened.

Eventually the tears run dry, and a deep numbness settles in. He slowly starts once again to go through the motions of finishing his bath and cleaning the remnants of his despair and shame off of every surface. 

He hardly notices what is occurring and what he is doing. Everything is numbed and he no longer cares, he is simply letting his body and more instinctual parts of his brain to work to convince him to take care of himself despite his desire to wait until he can want to pursue those actions.

He does not know when he managed to get out from the tub and into the kitchen, nor does he remember putting on clothes and putting food on a plate, let alone eating most of that food already.

A sudden burning sensation in the back of his throat pulls him back to the present, and he runs back to the bathroom, covering his mouth in the process. What little he has managed to put into his stomach has now left in a violent fashion, leaving him feeling worse than before. It takes several minutes for Cloud to regain enough energy and will to move from his spot against the cool floor, but when he does, he has a vague idea of what he thinks should do.

He fights against the numbness to be able to concentrate just enough to find the key he thought that he had spotted earlier in the kitchen and carefully guides himself out of the apartment. Pain is starting to seep through the numbness with each step, but he wills himself to move forward.

When he finally figures out how to call the elevator with the key, he leans heavily against the wall, his legs shaking with the effort to stay upright. When the elevator finally arrives he eases himself into it, and sinks to the floor, feeling winded by his efforts. He reaches up to press a button for another floor. The numbers and symbols seem to move before his eyes, and he hits one at random, looking away as the movement makes his stomach twist and turn again.

The subtle movement of the elevator is still enough to make his stomach feel worse, and he is finding it harder and harder to stop the numbness from completely taking over. His vision begins to flicker in and out to the point when he can no longer tell if he is awake or not.

This all seems like a nightmare anyway.

He senses more than hears the elevator stop and soon a familiar voice reaches his ears moments after the doors open, but he cannot understand what they are saying. He can hear panic in their voice, but it gives no clear indication as to who it really is nor what they want.

Summoning as much energy as he can, Cloud carefully opens his eyes and forces himself to concentrate. It takes a moment for his vision to become less fuzzy, but soon familiar spikey raven hair comes in to focus, quickly followed by highly concerned and nearly burning violet eyes.

“-ike! Spike! SPIKE CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Cloud feels that Zack is pull him up and into his arms, the heat is welcoming against his pain, but movement causes him to gasp and groan at the immediate pain that flares up as a result.

The Alpha gives a weak chuckle and Cloud can feel his eyes taking in every bruise and every mark that is out of place. He knows Zack well enough to know that that the Alpha must be fighting against every protective instinct telling him to go and tear the one who left those marks to shreds.

“You disappear for days without any word and then I find you like this. What am I going to do with you?” Fingers ghost over the more obvious injuries and he feels Cloud’s neck. The fingers are quickly retracted once they encounter the mating bite, a faint scent of fresh blood tickles Cloud’s nose.

“Bastard.”

Cloud’s vision is growing fuzzy again, but he realizes that he can still concentrate enough to listen to Zack without too much trouble.

“Spike? Spike, stay with me ok?” Cloud’s cheeks are gently slapped. “Can you hear me Spike?”

He groans in response.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cloud feels himself being lifted up. “I’m going to take you over to the hospital wing, and don’t even think of protesting. This – This just isn’t right.” The last part comes out more of a whisper than words he was actually meant to hear, but Cloud still manages to catch the despair in Zack’s voice.

He drifts in and out of awareness as the Alpha runs through the Shinra owned buildings; making it seem like holding him while doing so is no effort at all.

He figures that they have arrived at their destination when he hears Zack start shouting again and the sound of shoes squeaking against a solid floor floods his hearing. The too cold air conditioning makes Clout burst out in instant bumps, and it feels like it is slipping into his bones and chilling him to his core.

There is more shouting, and he can feel himself being placed on a stretcher, as heated blanket being wrapped around him.

A hand gently brushes his cheek. “It’ll be ok Spike, they’ll patch you up soon and then we can figure out how to move on from this.” The movement stops and the hand is balled into a fist. “And when he comes back, I’ll make sure that bastard never touches you again.”

Cloud’s hand shoots up and grabs Zack’s. The blond tries not to show how startled he is at the action. “Let’s – Let’s just not keep doing this. I’ve had my fill of hospitals.”

The taste of blood grows stronger in his mouth again.

Zack’s hand pulls away from his as he is moved down the hall, and he feels like he is being taken away from his friend in more ways than just physical distance.

The nurses begin bombarding him with questions, too many at once for him to be able to understand and answer. It feels like they are pushing and pulling every bit of him, pain searing through him with each touch. A light quickly shines into his eyes, and blinds him even further.

Suddenly a sharp pain pierces his arm, and he struggles to get away. He is held down, and several more needles are inserted under his skin.

A nurse says something to him, but he cannot make out the words through his panic. He feels himself growing heavier, and soon he is smothered by the darkness.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

The next time Cloud wakes, another light is shining in his eyes. He groans and blinks rapidly, trying to clear the spots from his vision.

The light is removed, and the sound of scribbling fills the nearly silent room. Once the spots clear, Cloud carefully turns his head, thankful that that movement at least does not hurt like it did before.

He sees only other person in the room with him. A rather greasy looking man with stringy hair and thick-lensed glasses, the white lab coat makes it obvious that he is not one of the medical staff. 

There is something familiar about this man, but he cannot place what that is. For some reason the name ‘Hojo’ is floating in his head along with alarm bells, telling him that whomever is associated with that name is not to be trusted or someone to be near to. He has never seen he one called Hojo, so he does not know why that name is coming to mind now.

He shifts uncomfortably. The man snaps around and gives a grin that sends chills up Cloud’s spine. “So you’re the one my project claims is his ‘soul mate.’ Not nearly as impressive as you should be, that’s for sure. But that won’t be the case for long.”

Cloud is pretty sure that his man is not actually speaking to him but more likely to be having a inner monologue.

The man stares at him for another few minutes, and Cloud feels like all words he might have said are stuck in his still extremely sore throat. He wishes that this man would leave, his presence alone is enough to make Cloud extremely uneasy.

The man nods to himself, and moves closer to Cloud, disconnecting wires and drips from the blond, in a quick yet efficient manner. The whole ordeal is extremely painful for Cloud as some pieces that are connected to him are simply ripped away.

When he is satisfied with his work, the man grabs Cloud’s arm and begins dragging him out of the hospital bed. Cloud struggles and begins to growl at the man, his instincts warning him in every way that this man is nothing but bad news.

Annoyed, the man releases him and pulls a syringe out of his pocket. He uncaps it and thrusts it into Cloud’s neck. The effect is nearly instantaneous, his vocal cords become numb, and he can no longer make any verbal noise.

“None of that now.” The man grabs his arm again and begins dragging him once again despite Cloud’s best attempts to struggle out of his grasp.

It is dark outside of his room, and what few windows he sees all have their shades pulled, leading him to believe that it is probably nighttime. The thought makes what little hope he has, sink, knowing that this will make it harder for anyone to find him if he cannot manage to escape this insane person on his own.

Eventually they stop for a moment as the man waits for an elevator. Cloud looks around frantically, trying to see if there is anyone about who might notice what his going on. He continues struggling with all his might, trying to break free.

The man drops him harshly and sighs.

Cloud scrambles to gain his footing and run, but he feels an all too familiar sting as a needle pierces his skin, this time in the center of his back. The man releases him, and he manages to make it a few steps before he feels pins and needles race through his arms and legs. Numbness settles in, and he can no longer will himself to move.

He collapses against the floor, only mere feet from where he was before.

He hears the elevator softly announce its arrival, and his arm is grabbed once more as he is dragged into the waiting car. 

The ride is mostly silent except for the impatient foot tapping from the man. No, not exactly a man. It is obvious to him now that his memories of what Zack and Sephiroth told him and instincts are correct; this person is the notorious monster known as Hojo.

Since he can no longer move, Cloud does his best to glare at the mad scientist, and the man just smiles back at him like a cat who is about to play with a cornered mouse.

When the elevator stops, Cloud is surprised to see other people waiting just beyond the doors. But something in the back of his head tells him that this does not bode well, that these people are most likely working for Hojo and not likely to rescue him.

Hojo drops him and immediately the people scramble to grab him and haul him up and onto a stretcher. They do not bother to tie him down, obviously noting how he can no longer fight back.

They travel down a long series of halls, and it is painfully obvious to Cloud that they are in an area that is an underground passage between buildings, meaning it will be even harder for someone to find him since he will no longer be in the hospital building at all, but rather somewhere that is connected to it.

They come to a sudden stop, and he is nearly thrown off the stretcher by the harsh movement. The people surrounding him leave as Hojo appears before him again. “Seems that you are not in top condition for what I need you for. We’ll fix that and then we will make you into a ‘soul mate’ worthy of my prized project.”

He turns away and barks into the room. “Prepare a tank and solution. I can’t afford to wait for nature to get it into the shape I need it to be in to begin my experiment.”

Cloud is soon grabbed off of the stretcher by two people who drag him further into what he is guessing is a lab. Soon he finds that another set of hands is grabbing at him and securing him to some type of contraption. First his hands are secured, and then his feet.

One of the attendants rip off the clothes he had been provided with by the hospital, leaving him completely exposed.

A hand reaches out and strokes his chest, his head is pulled forward so that it is buried in the lab coat of one of the attendants. A deep, thick voice whispers in his ear, “So you’re Sephiroht’s bitch. He has good taste if nothing else. Too bad he isn’t here right now, I wonder what he would do if he saw you like this? Looking so desperate and angry? If those marks are anything to go by, I bet he would fuck you without restraint. I know that’s what I would do.” A tongue licks at his mating bite making Cloud want to puke. “Too bad you’re claimed, this could have be so much more fun.”

He is pushed back roughly and is pulled into an upright position. A mask is secured to his face, and he struggles to breath for a moment. Soon he can feel cool air circulating through the mask and he is able to suck in some much needed air.

He hears a rush of liquid and can feel something that is cold yet burning begin to cover his feet. The sensation does not stop, but soon the attendants release him to close the tank and the rush of liquid intensifies. He tries to struggle, but his limbs are still numb. Soon he is mostly floating in the strange liquid. 

From this position, Cloud can see that whatever this is, it is glowing eerily green, and just the sight makes him feel nauseous, but the sensation of it instantly freezing and burning him is even worse. He shuts his eyes against the liquid as it begins to cover his face, but the pain still manages to reach past the thin lids.

Before he knows it, Cloud realizes that the liquid is no longer filing the tank, but rather he is floating in it.

Cloud tries to move, but his efforts are wasted.

He takes a deep breath to try and calm himself and feels the mask around his mouth and nose start to slip. He remains as still as possible, but the damage has already been done.

The liquid is seeping behind the mask, filing it and quickly cutting off Cloud’s air supply.

He panics and tries to struggle again, fear that he will soon no longer be able to breathe takes over his actions.

The mask slips off entirely in just a few minutes, and he accidently inhales some of the liquid.

He is both freezing and burning inside and out now. He can no longer breathe, or attempt to without bringing in more of the liquid.

Cloud does his best to hold his breath, but all too soon he can feel his lungs burn even more with the combined effects of oxygen deprivation and the green liquid. He can feel darkness on the edge of his consciousness, and he knows that if he falls to it, he will probably never wake from it again.

In a matter of moments it no longer matters. He allows himself to stop struggling and embrace the darkness as his body begins to shut down from the lack of oxygen.

For the second time in his life, Cloud Strife dies.


	17. Bond

Chapter 17

Sephiroth is, for lack of better terms, very aggravated and distracted.

Despite his best efforts to put a great distance between himself and his new mate, the fledgling bond he instinctually formed while under the influence of Cloud’s heat and the alcohol that he had consumed that night, buzzes angrily in the back of his mind. It is constant and unforgiving in many ways, as it remains a clear reminder of the wrongs that he has committed against the blond throughout their brief time together.

It has been a handful of days since he left the young omega sleeping on his bed, and in all that time, sleep and rational thought has evaded him.

He had meant for this to be an escape, a time for him to get his thoughts in order and calm down before he goes back to face his soul mate, but none of that has happened. This trip has been more problematic then useful.

Sephiroth has long since given up on answering his PHS, he simply lets the messages collect and goes back to ignoring them as they have all been the same for the last few days. Zack has been furious at him and his actions towards Cloud the night of the party, and has not failed to let his voice and opinions be heard. It also seems that between the puppy and the media, Angeal and Genesis have also gotten wind of some of the events of that night. He never expected them to completely understand his reactions, seeing as how they are both of the same dynamic and as a result have a different relationship structure, but their insistence at his wrongdoings and horrendous behavior might as well have been swords running him through.

It is only thanks to their angered words that his is willing to look back at the evidence of that night and reexamine it himself to see if the faults pointed out to him were really there or if the others were overreacting. He had a nagging suspicion that no one was right in this situation, and that things could not have occurred as badly as they believe.

Finding news and gossip articles circulating around that ill begotten night are easy enough to find, but facing the truth is never easy for anyone, especially one accused of wrongdoings.

All it takes is one video clip from inside the event hall for him to see a small sample the horrendous behavior that the others had pointed out to him.

Sephiroth is disgusted with himself, but he knows that there is nothing he can do to change the past and make things right with Cloud, not with all the damage he must have caused even before the party.

He now sits in his temporary personal quarters in Junon, supposedly overlooking a detailed outline that should explain why more troops have been requested to come and act as guards for some oversized project or another that will be installed at the military base soon. The words on the papers hold no meaning for him; instead his mind is left reflecting on his past actions.

At this point, he would not blame Cloud for simply walking away from everything the moment he wakes up.

Sephiroth tosses the documents back on to the desk, surrendering the mind-numbing task for later. He rubs at his temples, trying to ease the headache that has been building since he left his apartment.

He tries to clear his mind and let it go blank, however, a constant nagging in the back of his consciousness does not allow him that relief.

He stands; ready to give the now scattered paperwork to someone else to deal with, when he suddenly falls to the ground. 

Pain erupts in his consciousness, blinding him to his surroundings until a frazzled stream of thoughts manages to break through.

Pain. There is a lot of pain, and such a paint that he has never experienced before.

Self-hate.

Desperation.

Loneliness.

Abandonment.

These thoughts replay and scream inside Sephiroth’s head, begging for his attention all at the same time.

He desperately tries to block them out and regain his own thoughts and will. The pain eases a bit with these intentions, and Sephiroth is left panting on the floor of his quarters.

Despite the bit of relief, the thoughts are still there, and occasionally one will become louder than the others, only to quiet down seconds later.

Desperate to discover the origin of these raw emotions, Sephiroth latches on to the loudest thought and carefully follows it back to its source.

Abandonment.

He hesitates as he allows himself to come closer to the raw emotion as it threatens to overwhelm him again, but he allows it to act as needed.

He feels a sudden and complete emptiness inside that he has not felt since Angeal and Genesis told him that they were soul mates. This type of pain is familiar, but since he has overcome it before, and he knows that it will not overcome him this time.

He lets the emotion rampage through his mind, and as it begins to leave impressions behind with each peak of intensity, Sephiroth is able to latch on to those impressions and learn more about why they are there and how they are affecting him specifically.

It takes him mere moments to realize that the impressions that are being left behind belong to Cloud.

This can only mean one thing, and Sephiroth is not sure if he can face that reality yet.

Cloud is finally awake, and is feeling abandoned.

Sephiroth was the one to leave once the omega’s heat ended. He was the one to abandon the blond when he is at his weakest.

Cloud is justified in feeling abandoned, and it is all Sephiroth’s fault.

Upon this realization, the impressions slow down, and the intense level of the emotion calms down to a more reasonable level for Sephiroth to deal with. This allows Sephiroth to think clearly for the first time since leaving Midgar.

He has made his decision. He is going back to Cloud to beg for his forgiveness. He knows that there is nothing he can do to change the past, he can only hope that Cloud will let him come back to try to make amends and move forward in a more positive direction for both of them.

Sephiroth pulls himself off of the floor and storms out of the room, his destination already set in his mind.

As he crosses the camp, people call his name and ask him to stop or if he is all right, but he ignores them all in favor of returning to his soul mate as soon as possible.

When he finally arrives at the helipad, he discovers that all of the choppers are gone. He quickly checks his PHS for the schedule and is annoyed to find that all available aircraft and trained personal have been assigned various missions for the day, and that the next available craft will not return until late that evening. 

After a short debate with himself, Sephiroth determines that the hours of waiting are not worth it. Instead, he chooses to do something that he hates in order to return to speed up his return to his soul mate.

He tries not to cringe at the pain as his single black wing is summoned into existence. He does not spend time cleaning it off or checking to see if anyone is watching, he simply wills himself into the air, a rough assessment of time and distance already being calculated.

After taking a few seconds to re-familiarize himself with the sensation of flying of his own volition, he orientates himself towards Midgar and heads in that direction as fast as he can.

……………………………………………………….

The flight takes much longer than Sephiroth would have liked, and by the time he can see the green lights of the Shinra complex, he feels that he is in serious risk of losing Cloud to some unknown force.

About midway through his flight, he had felt another spike in emotional through the bond, only to have it fall completely silent soon after. This alone caused him to worry and work past his limits to move faster.

And now, just a few minutes ago, Cloud’s emotions began to rage and spike again, only this time fear is the predominate emotion and thought process that is observable through the bond. He can feel the omega become more desperate with each passing moment.

Oddly enough, the bond is telling Sephiroth to head to the medical ward in the Shinra complex, rather than his apartment. His own anxiety spikes at this knowledge, as he fears that something has happened to Cloud as a result of his neglectful actions.

After a rather stiff landing, Sephiroth enters the building and begins running through the halls, following the panic that is freely flowing through the bond and is getting stronger with each step that he takes closer to his soul mate. As he rounds a corner near the main elevator, another body slams into him, sending them both tumbling on the floor.

Sephiroth struggles to regain his footing so that he can continue on his way, but a fist collides with his jaw, knocking him back down. While it would take more force than that to do any serious harm, the impact still leaves a sting. He looks up at his assailant and is not surprised by the violet eyes glaring down at him.

“What makes you think that you can just waltz back in here?” Zack’s snarl urges Sephiroth’s Alpha instincts to retaliate, but he knows that there is no time for this. “You abandoned him! Spike was at his most vulnerable and you just took what you wanted and left him! Or am I mistaken? Because I hardly believe that any self-respecting Alpha would just up and leave their soul mate for a mission, especially when they know that that mate is in that sort of state.” 

Sephiroth glares back, his own snarl breaking free. He knows that if he keeps holding the glare long enough, Zack will eventually have to back down to him, and he would rather it be sooner rather than later. 

“I have done what you said and more and I deserve your words, but now is not the time for them.” He pulls himself back to his feet, wary that Zack might try to knock him over again. “Cloud is in trouble, and I’m going to help him. That is, unless you feel the need to stop me. If that is the case, then I cannot ensure your safety if you become between me and my soul mate.”

Sephiroth can feel some of Cloud’s fear slipping into his own words, as that particular emotion is so strong now he can practically feel it in his bones. However, he can tell that something is very wrong with the blond as the bond feels like it is slowly going numb, and the emotions are becoming muddled from what they have been.

Zack goes to protest, but Sephiroth holds up a hand. The older Alpha closes his eyes and tries to grab onto Cloud through the bond, to figure out where exactly he is. There are some muddled images that he can just make out, but one thing that stands out the most is the familiar green glow that Cloud can see surrounding him.

Mako.

There is only one place that is located directly in the Shinra compound with that much of the toxic substance stored and dealt with in such a way; the science labs, which Sephiroth is all too familiar with.

Sephiroth turns his back on Zack and runs to the elevator, and begins impatiently waiting for it to arrive after he pushes the call button. Unfortunately, it is the fastest way to the lab and the easiest to grab Hojo’s attention.

Zack yanks on his arm, trying to turn him around, but Sephiroth stands firm. “If you are going to continue to lecture me, you may continue. But it seems that for some reason Cloud is now in the science department and I’m going to get him out. Now, you can come if you want, but do not try to stop me from finding him.”

The elevator arrives before the younger Alpha gives an answer, but when Sephiroth enters the car, he enters as well.

The long ride down is filled with heavy silence and distrustful glares shot towards Sephiroth every few seconds, but the older Alpha pays them no mind. Instead, he is trying to grasp onto the fading bits of his bond. He knows that mako has the potential to disrupt a bond or dull it, so he is not sure if this is normal or not.

All he does know is that the sooner Cloud is out of hands of Hojo, the better.

As the elevator begins to slow its descent, Sephiroth feels something snap in his mind. All at once he is flooded with images and thoughts that are not his in anyway. There is no rhyme or reason to them, only undisputed chaos and a growing feeling of emptiness that threatens to consume him.

He backs into the wall of the elevator, clutching his head in pain. Just as abruptly as it started, the images and thoughts stop completely. In their place is a feeling of total nothingness.

For the first time in days, Sephiroth no longer has a headache.

Sephiroth realizes that only one thing could cause this to happen.

He is too late. 

Cloud has already died.

In an instant, blind fury consumes him.

He knows where his soul mate is, and he knows exactly who caused his soul mate to die. He will not allow them to escape his rage.

The moment the doors to the elevator open, he can hear alarms blasting, but he pays them no heed as he storms through the lab towards where he last sensed Cloud. Scientists run through his path and try to stop him, but they are all tossed aside without effort.

Eventually he stops and hesitates before a container filled with mako. Inside he can see a distorted figure floating eerily still, the sensors attached to them reading no signs of life. However, it seems like this body has not yet returned to the Lifestream. 

He raises a hand to the glass, hoping that the blond inside would show some type of response, but as expected, none is given. He removes his hand and extends it, summoning Masamune. He approaches the glass and strikes it twice with the hilt of his sword.

Once, to splinter the glass.

Twice, to break it.

Liquid mako rushes out soaking Sephiroth and the floor around him. The Alpha pays little attention to the burning sensation as he reaches into the container and begins to carefully unhook the small blond from their hold. Once he is free, Sephiroth pulls Cloud out and settles on the wet floor, the omega wrapped in his arms.

He carefully pushes the now flat blond spikes out of his soul mates’ face and begins trying to rub some warmth back into the mako chilled body. He can see that thankfully the bruising from their mating has faded and that Cloud looks more peaceful than ever.

Guilt and grief threaten to overwhelm the Alpha.

Tears begin to fall unbidden and murmured apologies struggle to reach unhearing ears. Chaste kisses are placed on the pale face, and sobs begin to shake the Alpha’s frame.

Sephiroth strains to try to project his own feelings back where he had felt the mating bond, hoping that somehow the blond would be able to hear him.

He does not ask for forgiveness, as he knows that there is nothing he can do to atone for what he has done. Instead, he asks simply for the soul mate to return to him, and live the life that he should have lived if none of this had ever happened.

“Please Cloud, you must live.”

The words pass unbidden from his lips, and the last of his tears lands on Cloud’s still face.

……………………………………………………..

Darkness and emptiness surrounds him. It is neither hot nor cold, nor does he want for anything in this place. It is somehow familiar and comforting.

And yet, there is a faint pull from somewhere far away. It urges him to leave this comfortable place in favor of going to somewhere else that remains unknown.

There is a part of him, deep inside that tells him that he is missing something very important where he is now, and that that something can never be found in the same place he is now. 

But that same part also tells him that by perusing that something important, he is opening himself to be hurt again.

This is something that he cannot decide on.

Green lights slowly begin to trickle into his line of sight. Slowly and carefully they begin to take the form of a wolf that is standing in a bed of small yellow and white flowers. When the image of the wolf is complete, it cocks his head at him as if it is amused by something.

‘I have protected you once before, human. Do you doubt my ability to protect you again?’

Though he has no idea just who or what this wolf before him really is, something about it is very comforting, as though he is seeing an old friend for the first time in many years.

The wolf seems to take that as a response and silently nods as it begins to return to the green lights from whence it came.

He returns his attention to the slight pull and allows it to guide him away from the comforting darkness. 

There is something or someone out there that needs him, and he knows that he must go to the source of that need.

The pull stops and he is left floating on the edge of two realities.

“Please Cloud, you must live.”

Cloud takes a moment to calm himself before willing himself back into a cruel world that he had left behind.

…………………………………………………

The body in his arms suddenly shakes and shudders as it desperately begins trying to breath in air, only to cough and choke on the mako that remains in his system.

Sephiroth quickly moves to accommodate the harsh movements, and shifts the shaking body to allow it to dispel the toxic substance.

Eventually the coughing and vomiting ceases though the body still continues to shake.

Sephiroth turns the body around again towards him again. He marvels at what he sees.

Mako bright eyes stare up at him with out any recognition of who he is. But in this moment, that is not what matters most to the Alpha.

What matters most, is that his soul mate is alive.


	18. Through the Eyes of Another

Chapter 18

Sephiroth pulls the limp body of his Omega closer to him as he brings to stand. He tries not to jostle his mate, fearful of any damage Cloud might have suffered at Hojo’s hand and any remaining injuries remaining from Cloud’s heat.

Those bright blue eyes continue to stare at him, though no emotions or presence can be seen in their depths. Though his mate is physically alive, Sephiroth fears that his mate has shut out the world, and he has only himself to blame.

He forces himself to be calm as he carries his Cloud from this hell, wishing for once that he had Zack’s Gift to control the mood and emotions of those around him. Some part of him can feel that it is only a matter of time before Cloud becomes aware of what is happening and a deep-seated fear and hatred of recent events will overcome the blond, causing him to lash out and injure himself worse.

They are nearly to the stairs before a greasy whine stops Sephiroth in his tracks. “This one is not worthy of being your mate. It is flawed and will never become anything more, leave it.”

For a moment Sephiroth hesitates. He knows that if he complies he will lose Cloud forever, but he also knows that if he defies Hojo, the scientist’s wrath will follow both of them for the rest of their days.

As far as Sephiroth knows, Hojo is not immortal. As long as he can get Cloud away from the insane scientist and to someplace that can help hide the blond, then he can deal with Hojo later.

Without a word, he continues out of the labs, his grip tightening on the blond with each step, silently praying that Hojo will not have a means to stop him now.

Thankfully the rest of his journey out of the labs is uneventful on his part. He ignores the steady stream of security and medical teams that are beginning to flood the space. Absently, Sephiroth wonders if he had set off some sort of alarm in his attempt to retrieve Cloud or if someone else is the cause. 

To his relief, no one tries to stop him until he is free of the labs. 

He may be free of Hojo for the moment, but a very irate Zack Fair is waiting with more security in the medical ward lobby.

The younger Alpha notices them immediately and surges forward, his eyes filled with determination.

“Gaia, what happened to Spike?” His eyes meet Sephiroth’s, and his voice explodes across the lobby. “What have you done? You abandoned him and yet now you choose to fulfill your role as his Alpha! If you had just stayed with him like you were supposed to none of this would have happened!”

Sephiroth tears his gaze away, knowing that each word spoken by his friend is true. If he had simply done his duty and stayed with his soul mate, Cloud would be safe and himself now. He should have treated Cloud as a person and less like a mere prize he had chased across the world only to have it sit on a shelf as a memento.

However, the past cannot be changed. And now Cloud is suffering because of his actions.

He looks down at his soul mate and notices that his eyes have slipped shut once more, but he is still breathing, and that is all that matters at the moment.

He knows that Zack can feel his inner turmoil, and that no words need to be spoken for the younger to understand his intent to try to rectify his actions.

Zack dismisses the team behind him and approaches Sephiroth, his nose wrinkling the closer he gets. “Why do you reek of mako?” His gazes shifts and registers that Cloud is still wet and there is a fine trail of the glowing green substance on the floor leading back towards the labs. “Wait, why are you two covered in it? You know that stuff is extremely toxic, right? How can you stand the burning?”

Sephiroth simply nods and starts heading away from the lobby, Zack never hesitating to follow.

“Where are you taking him? Spike’s going to need medical attention. Again.”

Sephiroth lets out a heavy sigh. “This is something I need to fix. I’m not sure how, but know that if I leave Cloud with others it will do more harm than good.”

“Seph, I get that you want to try to fix, this but don’t you think that someone more qualified to help him is what’s best right now? You know as well as I do that he could get seriously sick from whatever Hojo did to him. Best leave this one to the professionals.”

“I know that is what seems would be best, but something is telling me that if I leave him now, I will never have a chance to fix this.” Sephiroth shakes his head in confusion. “It is illogical, but the feeling is still there.”

Zack tries to suppress an irritated growl. He reaches out a hand to push some of the blond hair out of Cloud’s eyes, hoping for a response, noting how Sephiroth tenses at his action. “I hope you’re right about this.”

Zack withdraws his hand, disappointed when Cloud did not respond to his touch. Some of the tension leaves Sephiroth, and Zack cannot help but wonder about the change in the behavior of the older Alpha.

There are no more words between them as they work together to avoid more personnel that have come to investigate the commotion of the night. And though it takes more time than normal, they eventually are able to reach Sephiroth’s apartment without being stopped.

As soon as they are in the door, Sephiroth heads towards the bathroom, gently laying Cloud in the tub. It only takes a moment for him to start drawing a bath at a comfortable temperature. With as much care and gentleness as he can, Sephiroth sets about washing the mako off of his mate, empting and refilling the tub as necessary until the water no longer has a greenish tint and Cloud’s skin is a rosy pink.

The events of the day have been steadily wearing on Sephiroth, and he can feel it starting to overwhelm him as he lets the last of the water drain from the tub, a fresh towel ready to dry off the sleeping blond. Sephiroth is so concentrated in his actions that he fails to notice when the edges of his vision begin to turn to black.

With no other warning, a sudden headache threatens to pierce Sephiroth’s skull. He tries to fight it, but His mind falls into oblivion before his body hits the floor.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Cloud is annoyed with the situation he finds himself in. He knows that he is not dead, and he honestly does not know how to feel about that. There is a part of him that desperately wants to simply give up and not have to deal with anything life might have in store for him. He fears for what might happen if that insane scientist finds him again, and if he can live with the ache of abandonment that has been stewing in his gut ever since he woke up after his heat.

But on the other hand, he feels that some part of him is trying to reach out, to grab the attention of something or someone. And that whatever is at the end of that reach is something that will set his world right again.

He mentally shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts and focus on what is important at that moment, waking up and getting out of his current hell.

He struggles to try to grasp how his consciousness is still connected to his body, hoping to find something to anchor him back to himself.

Despite his attempts, he still feels like he is floating in nothingness and he fears that something had happened to his body to cause the separation.

Suddenly the nothingness is disrupted and Cloud’s consciousness is suddenly distracted by a jumble of noise and what appear to be floating lights coming closer to him. At first he tries discern the source of the crashing sound rather than the lights. When he has no success with that, he decides to try to reach out with his consciousness to see the light that is closest to him.

When he reaches the light it feels warm and welcoming to him. Curious, he reaches out and tries to touch it.

Shapes, noises, and confusion slam into him, causing him to try to separate from the light, only to find that it is not possible. Cloud begins to panic, but one sight quickly forces him to stop his struggles.

He sees a naked, pale form being held. The face is expressionless, blond hair plastered to it distorting some of the features. However, it is the bright blue, mako laced eyes that catch his attention. Despite the change in color, he knows those eyes and that face.

Cloud realizes that he is somehow seeing his own body from an outside source.

This causes more panic to rise up and for a moment, Cloud believes that maybe he has died.

Slowly, a hushed voice manages to work through his panic. The words are seem to be scrambled and phrases incomplete, but they help Cloud to calm.

Cloud decides to focus on the words, hoping that they will help him to figure out what is going on. After a few moments he realizes that it is easier to focus not on the words, but on the impressions that they leave.

The words are filled with a mix of emotions, mostly anger and self-loathing. But there is also loss and desperation. And under that a small glimmer of hope.

He is unsure what to make of these impressions, but suddenly the scene before him shifts despite his intent to stay and figure out what is going on.

The world around him begins to move and Cloud uses the opportunity to try to observe the surroundings more. It only takes a moment for Cloud to realize that he is still in the lab, and that something or someone is carrying his body away from the mako tube.

By chance, Cloud manages to catch the reflection of who is carrying his body.

Sephiroth.

Sephiroth, his soul mate who abandoned him after his heat and was last known to be constantly moving away from him, is in fact here.

The reality feels like a slap in the face.

With everything Cloud knows about his mate, this behavior makes sense, the Alpha is extremely possessive, however, if the man was so desperate to get away from him before, why did he come back? Did he know that Cloud was in danger, or is there another motive behind his actions?

Cloud tries to examine the impressions of thoughts again, paying more attention now that he knows that the thoughts belong to Sephiroth.

Nothing changes after his examination; he is still as confused as before.

Annoyed by this knowledge, Cloud once again attempts to try to disengage from Sephiroth’s consciousness, wanting to get back to his own body and demand answers.

He is not successful.

If he could have huffed he would have. Instead he decides to try to see what Sephiroth does with his body, and hope that inspiration will strike and he will once again be alone with his own thoughts.

He observes Sephiroth’s interaction with Zack, and Cloud is very happy that he has a friend like Zack who obviously cares about him; despite the half-truths he gave the Alpha in the past.

By the time Sephiroth and Zack make it back to Sephiroth’s apartment, Cloud is practically screaming in frustration about his inability to do anything.

He is confused by the tenderness that Sephiroth is demonstrating. Cloud is under the impression that he means very little to the Alpha, but this behavior is out of character.

He wants to not be in Sephiroth’s head where the thought impressions are confusing him.

He does not want to be back floating in oblivion again.

He wants to be back in his body.

Without warning, inspiration strikes.

Sephiroth is a powerful Gifted who has the ability to read the minds of others. Cloud figures that with an ability like that the Alpha should be able to recognize with something is in his mind that does not belong.

Gathering his nerves, Cloud tries to throw the biggest fit he can and make as much noise and his disembodied consciousness can.

At first nothing seems to happen, but Cloud notices that the field of vision he has been observing is slowly becoming darker at the edges. This encourages Cloud.

Eventually Cloud feels like he is out of energy, and he stops his attempts. However, in that moment, he can see Sephiroth’s vision completely fade away and his body falls to the bathroom floor.

Cloud is abruptly ejected from Sephiroth’s consciousness, but quickly realizes that he is back in the oblivion.

He cries out in frustration. Anger and confusion threatening to overwhelm him once more.

All of a sudden those feelings leave, and instead it feels as though someone has wrapped him in their arms.

The feeling is calming, and while Cloud muses that he should most likely be panicking at the unknown presence, he feels that he cannot. Content with that knowledge, Cloud leans back into the warmth.

Impressions begin to flow into him, each more desperate than the last.

There is so much fear and loss that Cloud feels like he could lose himself if he wanted. But there is a deeper feeling of regret and a desire for repentance that draws Cloud’s curiosity.

A stream of images begin to accompany the impressions, and Cloud feels at a loss.

The impressions and images are Sephiroth’s past and current emotions and memories of Cloud. 

Watching the other man’s perspective of the last few weeks makes Cloud realize that Sephiroth is not completely to blame for his actions. Cloud realizes that he should have been truthful with his mate from the beginning. To admit that he is Gifted, and that is why Sephiroth is unable to read his mind.

He also realizes that Sephiroth has been trying to hide him from the world that the Alpha has been forced into because of his Gift. Being forced to join an organization that he did not believe in or face being at best an outcast in normal society, at worst killed for his ability.

Sephiroth never wanted Cloud to have to be part of that life. He wanted his soul mate to be safe and separate from the society that would have kept him under high scrutiny.

Neither of them has been right, but neither of them were completely in the wrong in their actions.

They have only themselves to blame for their current situation.

The thought shames Cloud.

He decides that when he finally is back in his body, he will tell his soul mate everything. Sephiroth has a right to know.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Sephiroth is dreaming. There is no other explanation for what he is seeing.

There is darkness surrounding him, but he can just make out a bright light in the distance. It draws him in like a moth to a flame. The closer he gets, the more the light seems to take on the vague form of Cloud.

The Cloud like light seems to be in distress and does not notice his approach. Sephiroth places his arms around Cloud and is stunned with the blond seems to calm under him.

Even though he knows this is a dream, Sephiroth still wishes to convey his feelings to Cloud. To let the Omega know how much he regrets his actions, and how he wishes he can someday earn the chance to redeem himself.

He holds this position and slowly he begins to take comfort from simply being able to hold this dream version of his soul mate.

Eventually he can feel a nagging at his consciousness and he knows that he is about to wake up.

He places a kiss among the blond spikes and whispers, “Please Cloud, come back to me. I need you. I love you.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Sephiroth wakes up in a hospital room. The smell of chemicals assaulting his nose causes him to groan. The rustling of papers makes him turn his head to see Zack crossing the room, a forgotten newspaper thrown on the floor.

“You know, I believe I told you that we should get Spike a medic, not you.” The younger Alpha runs a hand through his hair. “And now both of you are out of commission. You should be glad I dragged your sorry asses back here.”

Sephiroth nods without thinking. He carefully sits himself up, wincing at the splitting headache that seems to have stayed with him. He scans the room quickly, and his gaze lands on a bed next him where a blond tuft of hair is sticking out of the blankets.

Zack sees where his gaze falls and answers his unasked question. “Spike’s not doing so good. The doctors did their thing, but said that you should be the one to hear the news and decide what to do.” He sits on the bed next to Sephiroth. “They said that unless something changes, he might not wake up.”

Sephiroth’s gut clenches at the thought. Carefully he eases himself out of his bed, and approaches the Omega. With as much care as he can, he eases himself into Cloud’s bed and holds the blond much like he had in his dream.

Sensing that his friend needs a moment, Zack excuses himself from the room, claiming to go in search of coffee.

Sephiroth closes his eyes and lays his head on top of Cloud’s. He knows the blond is strong. He also knows that there is nothing he can do for his soul mate. It is all up to Cloud to wake up.

Content for the moment to simply hold his mate, Sephiroth fails to notice how much time passes. Instead, he listens to the beating of Cloud’s heart. Holding on to the knowledge that as long as his heart is beating, Cloud might come back to him.

He quickly loses sense of how long he has been holding his mate when he feels a small twitch from Cloud’s left hand. Cloud’s breathing suddenly deepens and a weak groan can be heard.

 

“. . . roth? Sephiroth?” The voice is thick with sleep and cracks with use, but it is unmistakable.

For a moment, Sephiroth hesitates, but he grabs Cloud’s hands and responds. “I’m here.” The rest of the words get stuck in his throat, and he does not know what more to say.

Cloud lets out a small hum in response. “There is something I need to tell you.”


End file.
